Girl, 12, burnt in egg blast horror
Mircowave incident left her with facial burns
ASCHOOLGIRL who suffered facial burns when an egg she poached in the microwave exploded in her face has been left unable to wear make-up or go out in the day time for two years
Kadie Law, 12, tried to whip up a supper snack using a method she’d spotted online, which involved putting an egg in a mug of boiling water and blasting it in the microwave for 90 seconds.
But as she reached for a bowl in the cupboard above where the cooked egg was resting, it sprayed a jet of scalding spray all over Kadie’s face including her eyelids.
The pre-teen was placed under a cool shower by Kirsty Brown’s quick-thinking fiancé Michael Sale, 29, for 40 minutes while the 33-year-old packed an overnight bag before rushing her to hospital.
Doctors examined Kadie’s eyes, which were miraculously unscathed, and tended to her scorched skin.
Now, eight months on from her ordeal, Kadie must always wear factor 50 sunscreen and a hat, isn’t able to wear make-up and isn’t supposed to go out between 11am and 4pm for the next two years.
Mum-of-three Kirsty, who is also mum to Evlynn Sale, seven and one-yearold Hallie Sale, is urging caution about cooking eggs this way.
Kadie, from Bacup, said: “It went straight on my eyes, I’m lucky not to be blind. It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced.”
Mum Kirsty said: “At that age you want to teach them independence. You think the microwave would be safer because pans sometimes spit and the oven can get so hot, you think a microwave would be fine but it gets so hot so quickly.
“As I was putting Hallie to bed at around 7.30pm I heard an ear-piercing scream but with three young daughters in the house there are a few occasional screams here and there.
“I could hear her dad saying ‘quick, get under here’ then Evlynn came running up and said Kadie had burned her face.
“At first I thought it wouldn’t be too bad as kids tend to be dramatic.
“I came running out of the bedroom and into the bathroom where she was in the shower.
“I had a look at her and I thought it didn’t look too bad because it was very early on and she just look soaked [from the shower].
“When I turned her towards me I realised her forehead hadn’t been under the water and I knew we’d have to go to Oldham [hospital].
“I left her under there for 40 minutes while I packed her a bag and wet a load of towels and blankets to take in the car where she lay with them on her face.
“It was a 30-minute drive to hospital. I was surprised by how calm Kadie was, she wasn’t complaining of pain, while I was frantic.”
At Royal Oldham Hospital’s A&E Kadie was assessed and then transferred to the children’s burns unit at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
There, the top layer of skin from her burns were scraped off before applying olive oil on her scorched skin and placing a bandage on the worst section on her forehead.
Kirsty said:“They tested her eyes and they were very happy with them. She was very lucky that she managed to close her eyes just in time.
“When we got to the burns unit she was put into a large bath, she then got dressed and a nurse came in and scraped the blisters from the top layer of skin off.
“They used a silver bandage on her forehead then we had to apply olive oil three times a day all over the burns.”
Despite diligently applying the olive oil three times a day as instructed, Kadie’s skin became infected and she needed a seven-day course of antibiotics to clear it up.
Eight months later, Kirsty is urging people to be careful when cooking eggs in this way and wants to raise awareness about how to treat burns.
Kirsty said: “It was shocking to see something as simple as cooking an egg cause all that, you don’t expect it at all.
“I would advise people to use a lower heat [setting] and not use boiling water.
“I think it’s really important people know that going under cool water is the most important thing you can do for burns, and the longer the better.
“She can’t go out in the sun. For the next two years Kadie will need to wear factor 50 sun screen, has to wear a hat and she also has to put an emollient cream on twice a day. She is not supposed to go out between 11am and 4pm.
“She can’t wear make-up either, which she absolutely loves.
“My advice is if you cook something in the microwave dont pull it out straight away, if you do put it somewhere away from you, don’t put it anywhere near you.”
Kadie said: “I was cooking a snack. I was making poached egg on toast, supper at around 7.30pm.
“I boiled water, put it in the glass jug, cracked an egg into it and put it in the microwave.
“I learned how to do it from a recipe online and I’ve watched mum make them before.
“I didn’t realise the microwave was on high and put it in for one minute 30 seconds.
“I let the egg cook until the microwave ‘pinged’. I put it on the side then I went to get a bowl from a cupboard above the microwave.
“I got it and I looked down and then it exploded in my face.
“The water was hotter than boiling point because it had been in the microwave after it had been boiled.”