Girl, 9, scarred for life by acid leaking from her phone case
IT seeMeD like the perfect phone accessory for a schoolgirl: a pink glittery cover decorated with unicorns and rainbows. But nine-year-old Olivia Retter may be scarred for life after toxic liquid in the £5.99 case spilled out and left her with a chemical burn on her leg.
The schoolgirl, from Ware, Hertfordshire, bought the case from a New Look store in Cambridge on December 27. Five days later she fell asleep with her phone in the bed next to her.
Fluid from inside the phone case leaked out during the night onto Olivia’s bare skin, said her mother Karly, 35, though there was no visible crack in the case to show where it escaped.
Mrs Retter, a cleaner, said her daughter woke in the middle of the night saying her leg was hurting: ‘I just thought she was being silly and sent her back to bed. Then in the morning I saw this awful burn on her leg. I was so shocked a phone case could do that. Doctors said it is a severe chemical burn caused by acid and she will be scarred for life.’ Mrs Retter, who has two other daughters, Ruby, 15, and Isabella, 10, added there was ‘no safety warning on the case: ‘Imagine if it had leaked when Olivia was on the phone or holding it to her face - it could have gone on her face or in her eyes.’
New Look has withdrawn the phone cover from sale after Mrs Retter posted a photograph and warning on Facebook. The posting has been shared 13,000 times. A spokesman for the retailer said: ‘New Look takes complaints of this nature extremely seriously. We have now instructed all stores to remove the product in question from the shop floor with immediate effect. Our quality team have also begun an investigation.’