Boy who could have died after trapping his tongue in bottle
A MOTHER whose son got his tongue stuck in a plastic water bottle was warned that removing it could kill him.
The drama began when Clare Wooff was driving with her two children and heard six-year- old Riley making muffled noises and shouting from the back seat.
After several attempts by Miss Wooff, 33, to remove the bottle, Riley begged her to ring an ambulance.
She drove him to Lancaster Royal Infirmary where the main part of the bottle was removed.
But, as the boy’s tongue continued to swell and turn black, Miss Wooff was taken aside and told Riley would need major surgery to remove the lid – and there was a risk that it could trigger a heart attack.
The mother- of-two, from Carnforth, Lancashire, said: ‘It was the scariest day of our lives. I’m still really shaken. I can’t stop looking at Riley and welling up. To think this is an everyday item most kids would have in their school lunch boxes.’
Miss Wooff has called on parents to throw out similar water bottles without safety gauze to prevent a tongue getting inside the spout on the lid.
Riley, who has a younger sister, Millie, two, had been given the Sainsbury’s water bottle with a bag
‘Scariest day of our lives’
of crisps by his grandmother Cheryl Wooff, 57, before the shopping expedition at the weekend.
His tongue is believed to have become stuck after forming a vacuum in the spout of the bottle.
Miss Wooff said that after an A&E doctor managed to get the bottle off, it became clear that the spout on the lid was stuck right to the back of his tongue. Miss Wooff said doctors even considered airlifting Riley to Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool.
She said she was warned that there would be complications with surgery because the lid made it difficult to get an air supply down his throat – which could also swell up.
Miss Wooff was also told her son risked a heart attack due to a surge in blood flow once the tongue was released. ‘They needed to protect Riley’s airways, but couldn’t get the tube down his throat as the bottle lid was in the way,’ Miss Wooff said. She was warned her son may need a tracheotomy, which could have landed him in intensive care.
‘The surgeons said “this is really serious, we need to warn you he could die”. I thought, how on earth could this happen from a water bottle? I was with my mum and we were just distraught.’
But after the surgery and an overnight stay, Riley was discharged. His tongue is still swollen but Miss Wooff says he is otherwise well. A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: ‘We are investigating this isolated incident and wish Riley a speedy recovery.’