A mum has vowed to never drink tea in the same room as her young son again after he managed to pull a "boiling hot" pot of tea over himself.
Carrieanne Doyle, 38, had popped to That Place Restaurant in the St George's Centre of Gravesend, Kent, for a cuppa before taking her 20-month-old son, Mason, to playgroup on June 23.
The mum-of-four said she was getting a snack from the bottom of Mason's pram when Mason managed to pull the tea all down himself.
The tot was left with third degree burns.
An off-duty nurse stepped in to help Carrieanne, who now says she won't even have a cup of tea in the same room as her son.
Carrieanne told The Mirror : "It was just a normal day, I was taking him to playgroup and we got there around 45 minutes early.
"That café is just above playgroup so I thought I'd grab a quick cup of tea and get Mason a snack while we wait.
"I parked Mason's pram up at an angle and was bending down to get a snack for him from the bottom.
"I looked up and knew instantly that something wasn't right.
"I bent down to him and I could literally just feel the heat, and that's when it clicked.
"I went into panic mode and I was screaming at the waitresses, saying 'get him underwater'."
With the help of the off-duty nurse, Carrieanne was able to call an ambulance and Mason was blue-lighted to the nearest hospital before he was transferred to the burns unit at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.
The tot underwent a four-hour skin graft surgery to clean the wound and take skin from his left to his right leg.
Carrieanne said her youngest child has suffered third degree burns across 8% of his body including his right leg, bum and groin.
But the mum says he has potentially years of treatment ahead of him to deal with the new scar tissue as he grows.
She said: "One of the waitresses took him into the kitchen and I was frantically looking for my phone to call an ambulance.
"I took over at the sink and started taking his clothes off. That's when a nurse walked in and told me she was a nurse.
"I said to her 'please just help him'.
"I remember looking at her and saying I need to call an ambulance don't I and she said yes.
"If it wasn't for this nurse, things could have been very different.
Carrieanne has shared her story to raise awareness.
She said: "I'm still in shock. You don't think its going to happen to you. It all happened so quick it took a long time to sink in.
"If I'm having a cup of tea or coffee at home I wont even sit in the same room as him now. It's been a very difficult time."
