An Edinburgh mum has shared a stark warning after her six-year-old daughter stood on burning sand from where a disposable BBQ had been lit.
The incident took place on Monday, June 12, at Yellowcraigs Beach, East Lothian, after the family covered the cooking kit in water before throwing it in the bin.
Not realising the area was still hot, the child stepped directly onto the hot patch of sand before screaming out in agony and being rushed to A&E at the Sick Kids.
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Fortunately, the burn on the six-year-old's foot is superficial and should heal well. But an A&E nurse told the mum this happens regularly in hot weather.
Putting out a warning to other mums, the Stockbridge mum, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote: "Apologies for the gory photo, but I want it to catch people’s attention.
"Hopefully, I’m the only person who could have done with this warning, but according to an A&E nurse this evening, I am far from alone. After a beautiful evening and bbq at Yellowcraig, we cooled the already-cooling-fast disposable barbecue with water.
"When we picked it up a few mins later, it was cool enough to lift comfortably in bare hands and even the underside felt only warm (admittedly I only felt it near the edge).
"A few minutes later my six-year-old daughter was screaming like I’d never heard her before. I couldn’t get out of her what was wrong and thought she must have been stung by something."
She added: "But when I looked under her foot, this was what I saw. She had stood in the patch of sand that had been under the barbecue. I hadn’t clocked that the sand would retain so much heat at such a high temperature.
"Thankfully it is apparently superficial and should heal fine. My daughter received great treatment at Sick Kids and is feeling SO much better than earlier - thank you, if any of the great team of nurses is reading this.
"Please be careful with your barbecues and keep kids away from the area even after the barbecue has been removed. This could have been a lot worse."
Speaking to Edinburgh Live she said: "There are some awful reports online of much worse injuries from the same thing, including from people burying their used barbecue rather than carrying them out - the heat goes into the sand above and people have been badly burned from walking on it.
"A couple of doctors have said to me that the fact I took my daughter to the sea quickly and kept the foot in the water for around 15 minutes will have made a significant difference to the depth of the burn.
"Apparently up to 30 minutes is recommended, but people often too much much less and perhaps prioritise getting to A&E over immediate cooling."
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