- Amber Styles, 33, from NZ was horrified when her son Luca was burned by boiling water at breakfast
- Luca ended up in hospital with third degree burns and needed skin grafts
- On the mend, brave Luca hasn’t let the ordeal dull his cheeky nature
Here Amber tells her story in her own words.
Spreading avocado on my toast, I then popped on the kettle.
It was early Saturday morning on February 24, 2024, and my son Luca, then two, and daughter Ellie, four, were up and about. Ellie was watching TV in the lounge while Luca zoomed his trucks around the kitchen floor.
‘I’m just ducking to the bins,’ my husband Matt, then 32, said, arms laden with recycling.
‘Thanks love,’ I called back as the hum of the kettle finished boiling.
Popping the kettle next to the toast, I turned to grab a cup and spoon for my coffee when I heard a heart-stopping scream.
Whipping my head around, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Luca was on the floor, holding the freshly boiled kettle in his left hand and his little stool was close by.
As he roared in pain, I grabbed the jug from his grip.
Hearing Luca’s scream, Matt came running in.
‘What’s happened?’ he asked.
In shock, I couldn’t answer. But with Luca’s cotton jumper soaked in boiling water I scooped him up in my arms and raced him to our bathroom.
Holding Luca in one arm, I turned on the cold tap and plunged us both fully dressed under the spray.
‘It’s okay, baby,’ I said, as Luca wailed in agony.
‘I’ll get the car packed for the hospital,’ Matt cried out from the kitchen.
Hands shaking, I gently pulled back Luca’s sleeve revealing his left forearm, elbow and upper bicep area were a vibrant pink.
His skin began falling off his arm
I was horrified as his skin began falling off his arm.
‘Matt, we have to go to hospital now,’ I yelled.
Ducking his head into the bathroom, Matt’s eyes widened. ‘I’ll get the car,’ he said.
We stayed under the shower for 10 minutes, before piling everyone into the car and racing to Papamoa emergency centre.
‘Is Luca hurting?’ Ellie asked. ‘It’ll be okay, Mama.’
When we arrived, Luca and I were put in another shower while a doctor assessed Luca’s burns.
‘These are serious burns. They need specialist attention,’ she said, giving Luca some pain relief and calling an ambulance to take us to Tauranga Hospital, 20 minutes away.
While Luca and I rode in the ambulance, Matt and Ellie followed in the car.
There Luca’s arm was bandaged before they airlifted us in a helicopter 118km to Waikato Hospital, so Luca could be admitted to the burns unit.
Matt dropped Ellie with his parents before driving to meet me at Waikato.
As the helicopter rushed towards the hospital – Luca sedated thanks to the pain relief – my mind scrambled to make sense of what had happened.
He must have seen the avo toast on the bench and climbed up to take a bite, I realised, remembering Luca’s stool in the kitchen.
He loved climbing up on his stool to watch me cook, or to eat snacks. But this time he’d grabbed the kettle handle, pouring the scalding water over himself.
When the chopper landed, Luca was rushed straight into surgery as doctors worked to relieve the pressure on his now swollen arm.
‘We will cut slits down his arm, so the skin has room to expand,’ the surgeon explained.
Matt and I felt so guilty our boy had third degree burns.
‘How could I let this happen?’ I cried.
‘We weren’t to know,’ Matt replied, wrapping me in his arms.
Over the next five weeks Luca had 10 surgeries to repair his damaged arm.
He had skin grafts taken from both his bum cheeks to replace the burned skin on his left arm.
Keeping him comfortable in hospital was tough.
He had an IV in to keep him hydrated but it restricted his movements.
His tiny arm wrapped in thick white bandages broke my heart.
I tried to keep his spirits high with trips to the playroom and reading books in bed.
Matt and Ellie would call, or drive the two hours to the hospital to visit.
My mum Lynne, then 58, came every weekend so I could have some respite.
‘You’re so brave,’ I told Luca daily.
Both business owners
– me at a coffee shop and photography studio, and Matt at an electrical company – we had to stop work while we cared for Luca.
In no time bills and medical costs piled up.
Thankfully, Matt created a fundraising page to keep our family informed about Luca’s progress and give our loved ones a chance to donate and help our little boy heal.
We were blown away by the support, with 88 generous people donating nearly $5000.
We also had wonderful support from our local church, charities and long-time clients.
Going home in March was such a relief, but Luca’s road to recovery is still going.
His arm needs to be bandaged daily to keep the delicate skin graft protected. We also have to moisturise it every day to avoid the skin drying out and splitting.
While he will be left with faded scars, he’s already proudly showing them off to anyone he meets.
‘Look at my arm!’ he cries, proudly holding it high.
Over the next few years, he will need ongoing check-ups to ensure he’s healing correctly. But he hasn’t let his ordeal dull his cheeky nature!
Luca, now three, is at kindergarten. He still loves trucks and playing with his sister Ellie, five.
We’re so grateful our boy is on the mend.
The freak accident was a huge reminder that life can change in the blink of an eye.
I’m so proud of our brave boy.
