A young Australian man has suffered third-degree burns after a hot water bottle split and poured boiling water across his lap.
The 20-year-old's mum, Marie Macheras, was in bed in their Melbourne home when she heard her son screaming in agony, Alfred Health reports. He'd been playing Xbox games when his hot water bottle cracked and spewed the contents onto his lap, stomach, and abdomen.
She says his body went into shock and he was trembling.
"It was a horrific sight to see. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone," Macheras told 9News.
"He said, 'mum, I'm on fire' - so he was burning."
She says her son jumped into a cold shower and she called an ambulance, but all she could hear was him yelling that he was "on fire".
The man spent a week in the burns unit at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and suffered second and third-degree burns across his abdomen, chest, and hands. He underwent surgery for a skin graft earlier this week.
Alfred Health burns surgeon Dane Holden says similar incidents happen every year.
"Every winter we get a spike in hot water bottle burns, which is a trend we really want to see reversed because they're entirely preventable.
"A few safety precautions such as never filling your hot water bottle with boiling water, hanging it up to dry before reusing it, and replacing it every 12 months will go a long way to avoiding putting yourself in danger."
