A BOY has stunned medics by surviving after accidentally downing DRAIN
CLEANER.
Sonny Arthur, six, suffered horrific internal injuries when he swigged the
corrosive chemicals he mistakenly thought was a bottle of water.
The youngster was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, to
neutralise the effects of the caustic soda crystals he ingested.
It emerged he had swigged from a water bottle left out on the side at his
family’s home in Hatfield Peverel, Essex, unaware it contained the harmful
substance.
Devastated parents, Vikki, 45, and Ian, 51, have been constantly at his side
since the freak incident on December 17 – although tough Sonny has now been
allowed home.
Writing on her Facebook page (Weds 6 Jan) Vikki said the loving family had
been left “wrecked” since the horrific incident.
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She wrote: “We are trying to process things as a family.
“Sonny’s consultant has confirmed he has significant narrowing of the
oesophagus in two places as a result of the accident.
“As such they are going to start a course of aggressive stretching which
will start in a couple of weeks and will continue until they are happy it
will remain open.
“The gastrostomy [feeding tube] will probably be there for at least a
year. This will be his life line to ensure he gets the nutrition he needs
while he is unable to swallow properly.
“Sonny is taking it all in his stride in true Arthur fashion and putting
the rest of us to shame …
“We are all completely wrecked but we are lucky to have so many wonderful
friends, neighbours and people in the community that have reached out and
helped get us through this horrible time.”
Family pal Jenna Wingrave, of Witham, Essex, added: “What happened to
Sonny was a freak accident and it could have happened to anyone.
“The bottle was standing on the side. Vikki thought he’d hit his head at
first but then she noticed his lips looked sore. She wasn’t getting much
sense out of him so she called an ambulance.
“The contents had already been tipped down the drain but there were still
a few extra droplets which Sonny thought was water. The paramedics checked
him over and said that something wasn’t right.”
Jenna added: “They rushed him to Great Ormond Street that night and put
him in an induced coma.
“It was so that they could let his body rest as he was having trouble
breathing. Although now stable, Sonny’s road to full recovery will be a long
and painful one.
“But he is part of a fantastic, loving and strong family.”
Sonny’s ordeal took place just two days after his elder sister Abbie, 16, was
discharged from GOSH after the latest in a series of lifelong operations on
her skull.