Aussie mum issues warning after son’s horror accident at camp site
It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, but one Aussie mum said everything changed in a matter of moments. Warning: This story contains graphic images
Warning: This story contains graphic images
An Adelaide mum has issued a renewed warning to anyone taking a camping trip this winter after her young son was left with horrific burns during their lap around Australia.
In June last year, Danella D’Antuoni was travelling the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia with her young family, husband Josh and children Ayla and Alby.
Ms D’Antuoni said what was supposed to be a time exploring the great outdoors, turned into a nightmare within seconds after her then 18-month-old son Alby unknowingly stepped on a campfire that hadn’t been extinguished properly and was covered in loose soil.
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After spending two hours in the car and arriving to Quondong Point, more than 2000 kilometres north of Perth, Ms D’Antuoni said her son and daughter jumped out of their vehicle to stretch their legs. Within moments, the peace of the remote campground was broken with screams and cries she said will stick with her for life.
“We had been around a lot of campfires before, so we had educated our kids around an actively burning fire,” she explained, noting the fire pit at the campground looked like a fire pit to an adult, but stones and dirt to a child.
“Before we knew it, we had turned our backs for a second and Alby ran across the fire pit and his feet sunk into the hot coals under the dirt.
“The poor thing made a horrific scream, the sound was not human, and my husband and I just looked at each other and our stomachs dropped.”
While Alby was aware of the dangers of fire and smoke, the abandoned campfire gave no signs the pit harboured smouldering hot coals under the soil and soot.
As a result, the bottoms of both the toddler’s feet were burnt, leaving horrific flesh injuries and blisters on his soles.
“In Alby’s case there was no smoke or flames, and his little brain couldn’t identify the danger,” she said.
“His bare feet sunk into the hot coals, and he sustained significant burns, including circumferential burns.
“At first his feet looked red, but with burns to the skin they continue to burn. And it just got worse. We started running his feet under water but he was just beside himself in pain so we quickly got him into the car and drove to the local hospital in Broome.”
With one foot being worse than the other, Ms D’Antuoni said the treatment for his burns was equally as painful and traumatic for her young son.
“We had to pop those blisters in hospital, which was really traumatic … I had to hold him down” she recalled.
“His left foot was burnt underneath but also on top, so it sunk into the coals and then it caved in.”
In an interview with Kidscafe South Australia last month, as part of a safety push around the hidden dangers of campfires, Ms D’Antuoni said no child should have to have to go through such avoidable pain.
“We were facing a possible transfer to Perth Children’s Hospital and surgery — it was extremely stressful,” she said, noting her son was able to heal with daily dressing changes at the medical centre for three weeks.
“We were camping with friends at the time of the accident … and the husband used three or four 2L bottles of water while we were at the hospital to put this campfire out, and he said the water just sizzled it was still that hot.”
While the toddler didn’t require any surgery in the end, the circumstances could’ve been far worse for Alby.
‘I was so overwhelmed’
Earlier this year, Ashlea Hodder revealed how her Easter camping trip turned into a nightmare when her seven-year-old daughter Coral accidentally stepped into a campfire that hadn’t been extinguished properly.
Ms Hodder had spent the weekend with friends and family at Keelbottom Creek near Mingala, west of Townsville, and while packing up her own campsite asked her children to look for koalas.
It was just moments later she heard Coral scream out — with the young girl accidentally stepping on the remains of another group’s fire that hadn’t been extinguished properly.
Ms Hodder told Yahoo Newsher daughter fell to the ground in pain and in doing so, burned her hands as well.
“We told the kids to go and explore and [my daughter] walked straight through the fire,” she said.
“I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t know what to do.”
The distraught mother said she rushed young Coral to the hospital, which was over an hour away, where the girl was diagnosed and treated for third-degree burns to her right food and fingers.
Ms Hodder, an experienced camper, said she was furious the group had left their campfire simmering and not properly extinguished.
“It’s common sense to put out your fire,” she said of the “traumatising” ordeal.
“It could have happened to anyone, or it could have caused a bushfire.”
As a result, Ms Hodder said her daughter “doesn’t want to go camping again”.
“Just make sure you put out your fires with water, don’t stomp them out or cover them with sand, take extra water with you because you never know what’s going to happen,” she urged other campers.
‘I’ll never forget the screams’
Rachel Greenhalgh faced a similar situation when her son, Apollo, ran into what appeared to be an extinguished fire pit while staying at Lake Leslie Tourist Park in March this year.
Ms Greenhalgh was seated just five metres from her two-year-old son when the unthinkable happened.
“It happened so quickly, I remember saying ‘no Apollo’, because it’s a fire pit and knowing not to go near it, not thinking about it being hot,” she told Kidspot in March.
Underneath the sand that was used to put the fire out there were hot embers. Apollo tripped in the pit, placing his bare hands and feet on to boiling coal.
“I’ll never forget the screams my child made,” Ms Greenhalgh said.
She was holding her eight-month-old son Leonardo while packing the car to leave the grounds. During that moment, her son got distracted and walked into the fire pit, which they thought had been extinguished 12 hours earlier.
“I had Leo in my arms, I couldn’t get to him,” she recalled.
“My dad was next to him and bolted. Apollo was screaming and running around in pain – my dad took him straight to the showers.
“Dad instantly knew to put him under cool water. My brother already had the shower running and Apollo was in it immediately.
“If it was only me there, it would have been a lot longer and much worse.”
Both of Apollo’s palms, his fingers, toes and the soles of his feet were burned.
The family drove to Warwick Hospital in Queensland with a terrified Apollo screaming the entire way. He was quickly transported to the Burns Unit at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, where the youngster had his first surgery. Since then, Apollo has had two more surgeries.
Kidsafe South Australia CEO Holly Fitzgerald told7News that if a campfire is not extinguished properly — with water — the soil can trap heat beneath the surface.
“Unfortunately, it’s children who end up being seriously injured,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services Kimberley Superintendent, Leon Gardiner, said in a release that simply covering a campfire with sand or dirt isn’t enough.
“Just covering a fire with sand, doesn’t actually put it out,” Mr Gardiner said.
“Fires can stay hot underground for up to eight hours — posing a serious risk to people and the environment.”
Ms D’Antuoni, who said her son’s wounds have healed completely one year on, hopes her story and that of others will raise awareness of the dangers of campfires around children, especially when they are not extinguished properly.
“Fires can burn even when they look like they have been put out,” she said.
“There is not enough education in this space. Campfires need to be put out with water to minimise the risks — and few people know this.
News.com.au contacted both NSW Fire and Rescue and NSW Health. Both declined to comment.
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