Mother investigated after baby suffers 20% burns on Brighton beach during the hottest day of the yea

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Mother investigated after baby suffers 20% burns on Brighton beach during the hottest day of the year

 

 

By Daniel Martin

Last updated at 9:17 PM on 25th May 2010

 

 

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A baby of five months suffered 40 per cent burns after being left out in the sun on the hottest day of the year.

The little boy was found with the horrific injuries by a passing community support officer as his mother sunbathed next to him.

The 29-year-old woman, who had travelled to Brighton beach from London, could now face charges of neglect.

 

Hottest day: Thousands flocked to Brighton beach on Sunday. Paramedics treated a five-month-old baby who was found badly sunburned

 

 

Her child's condition was not serious enough for surgery and he is being treated at Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital, where he is stable.

But experts say the episode could still have dangerous long-term effects, such as increasing the risk of skin cancer.

Parents are advised never to leave a baby under six months out in the sun and told not even to rely on sunscreen.

 

 

More...

 

 

• Wave goodbye to the heatwave: After scorching sunshine, it's back to miserable May
  

 

The incident happened on Sunday, when temperatures in Brighton soared to 25c (77f).

Barbara Jemic, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, said: 'At five months, a child is too small to communicate it is too hot so it will become dehydrated. And if the sunburn is accompanied by blisters, this can equal further dehydration - which can increase the risk of seizures and blood clots.

'This child will be in lot of pain and the injuries will take about two weeks to heal,' she added.

The case is being jointly investigated by Sussex Police and social services in both Brighton and Greenwich, South-East London, where the unnamed mother lives. 'No arrests have been made at this stage and the baby is doing fine,' said a police spokesman.

Babies' skins burn easily as they produce only a little melanin, which protects against UV rays.

NHS Brighton and Hove health promotion specialist Carolyn Syverson said: ‘Babies and young children are particularly at risk of sunburn and heatstroke.

‘Very young children should be kept in the shade at all times, older children should wear protective clothing, including a hat, have high factor sun cream regularly applied and drinks lots of fluid to stay safe and well.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1281274/Mother-investigated-police-baby-badly-sunburnt-beach.html#ixzz0ozGGfz9f

[Saffire]

Oh my god that beach is so crowded. I bet the water was more oily than the Gulf of Mexico is now.

[Destrokk]

HEY MARK YOUR BACK! :cheesy:

[mc_squared]

Some people just aren't fit to be parents.:angry:

[mc_squared]

'I was out of it on one lager' says mother of badly sunburnt baby who caused nationwide outrage

 

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 3:58 PM on 30th May 2010

 

 

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The mother of a baby boy who suffered terrible sunburn on Brighton beach has claimed she left him uncovered after one can of lager went to her head.

 

Anna Baboy's five-month-old son, Cosmo Wilson, suffered 40 per cent burns after he was exposed to temperatures of 27C on the hottest day of the year.

 

Fellow sunbathers said Ms Baboy appeared drunk and ignored their warnings that he should be placed in the shade.

Hottest day: Thousands flocked to Brighton beach on Sunday. Paramedics treated a five-month-old baby who was found badly sunburned

 

Now the 29-year-old and the boy's father, Christopher Wilson, 34, have apologised and said they had both 'cried buckets' since the incident.

The couple, from Plumstead in south-east London, said: 'We are both mortified about what happened. We just want to be able to bring up our son and put the whole nightmare behind us.'

The father, who wasn't with his family at the time, said his partner had simply wanted to build sandcastles with their child.

 

He denied that his wife had been drunk when she left her son in the sun last Sunday.

 

He told the Sunday Mirror that she had drunk one can of lager but that it had gone to her head because of the heat.

Bystander Alex Coulson said he begged the mother to get help but she couldn't understand what he was saying.

Mr Coulson told The Sun: 'I pointed to blisters that were forming on the boy's leg and was saying 'sunburn, sunburn' but she didn't get it. I think she may have been Eastern European.'

The child was treated at Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital after bystanders spoke to the police. The case is being jointly investigated by Sussex Police and social services in both Brighton and Greenwich.

The couple said they were both cooperating fully with the police and social services who are investigating the incident.

'She knows it was wrong to leave our son uncovered on the beach like that. But it was a moment of madness and she regrets it deeply,' he told the Sunday Mirror.

 

He added that she hadn't left the house since and spent all her time nursing their son.

 

Experts say the episode could still have dangerous long-term effects, such as increasing the risk of skin cancer. Parents are advised never to leave a baby under six months out in the sun - and that they should not even rely on sunscreen.

Barbara Jemic, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, said: 'No child under six months should be sitting in the sun at all - because you can't put sunblock on a child less than six months. Their skin is thinner so young children are more prone to get sunburnt.

'At five months, a child is too small to communicate that it is too hot, so it will become dehydrated and it won't be able to move out of the sun by itself. And if the sunburn is accompanied by blisters, this can equal further dehydration - which can increase the risk of seizures and blood clots.

'Alarmingly, getting sunburnt so young in life can increase the chance of skin cancer in later life.

'This child probably won't require surgery, but apart from being a red-hot poor little baby, it will be in lot of pain, the injuries will take about two weeks to heal - and its chances of getting lethal skin cancer are increased.'

NHS Brighton and Hove health promotion specialist Carolyn Syverson said babies' skins burn much more easily because they produce less melanin, which protects against UV rays.

'Babies and young children are particularly at risk of sunburn and heatstroke,' she said.

'Very young children should be kept in the shade. Older children, when out in the sun, should wear protective clothing, including a hat, have high-factor sun cream regularly applied and drink lots of fluids to stay safe and well.'