- Fourteen-month-old Dusty was rushed to hospital and placed in a medically induced coma after inhaling non-edible metallic cake decorating powder
- Doctors performed emergency surgery to clear his lungs, while testing revealed the decorative powder contained copper and zinc
- Following Dusty’s ordeal, mum Katie is urging parents and bakers to double-check decorative cake products before purchasing
Here Katie Robinson, 36, from Tamborine, QLD, tells her story in her own words.
Watching my little boy, Dusty, 14 months, ride around the yard on his toy tractor, the wind blowing through his curly red locks, I felt so lucky.
A mum to three, I had my hands full, but it was moments like this that made it all worth it.
‘Come on, little love, time to help Mama finish the cake,’ I smiled.
It was May this year, and I was baking a Bluey-themed first birthday cake for a friend.
Working part-time as a recruitment officer with the police force, I ran a cake business on the side.
We’d converted the granny flat on our 5.5-acre property into a baking studio.
After dropping my girls Indi, 10, and Olive, seven, to school earlier that morning, I took Dusty into the studio with me.
As I got to work mixing the buttercream, my partner, Chris, 29, who has his own carpentry business, came home early from work.
While we chatted, Dusty was busying himself in the drawers, as kids often do.
Suddenly my boy let out a sharp cough, followed by a cry.
Scooping Dusty into my arms, I saw his hands, cheeks, lips and tongue were covered in a metallic gold powder.
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Dusty had managed to pop open the lid of a brand-new sealed container with his teeth.
‘You’re okay,’ I soothed, dusting him off with a paper towel and wiping his tongue.
While I finished the cake, Chris took Dusty inside to fetch his sippy cup.
Back moments later, my poor boy was sick all over the kitchen floor, bringing up the gold powder.
Now inconsolable, Dusty was growing more distressed by the second.
Dialling the Queensland advice line on 13 HEALTH, I explained what’d happened to the operator.
‘Keep him upright and responsive,’ they advised.
Suddenly, while I was still on the phone, Dusty started struggling to breathe.
Taking sharp gasps of air, his eyes began rolling back into his head and his body went floppy in Chris’ arms.
‘I’m sending an ambulance,’ the operator said, keeping me on the phone line.
Tapping my poor boy on the cheeks to try and keep him conscious, I felt helpless.
‘Stay with me, baby,’ I sobbed, as Dusty’s eyes fluttered open and closed.
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Rushing to the house, I threw nappies, clothes, toys, bottles and the gold glitter into an overnight bag.
Fifteen minutes later, paramedics arrived. Placing Dusty on oxygen, they loaded him into the ambulance.
By now my boy was red in the face and white lipped.
‘I’ll meet you at hospital,’ I told Chris, climbing in beside Dusty.
The lights and sirens blared as we raced towards Queensland Children’s Hospital.
Conscious and struggling to breathe along the drive, Dusty tried desperately to rip the oxygen mask from his face, so ambos gave him meds to relax him.
At emergency, a team of doctors were waiting.
‘We need to take him into theatre immediately,’ one said.
After I gave him one last kiss, Dusty was wheeled into surgery where doctors flushed out his lungs after discovering the dust he’d inhaled had formed a sludge-like mass.
There were no ingredients listed on the jar, so doctors sent it off to be tested.
The results revealed it contained copper and zinc. I was horrified.
Shockingly, the metal-based product had been sold alongside the edible product range with similar packaging.
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I hadn’t realised I’d picked up the wrong item at the shops. Thankfully, I’d never used the product on my cakes.
Now though, I was gravely concerned about what it meant for Dusty, who was placed in a coma and intubated to help his little body recover.
‘We’ll need to flush out as much as possible to save his life,’ doctors warned, explaining they weren’t sure how far the dust had travelled.
Not wanting to leave Dusty, Chris and I took turns sleeping at his bedside and staying at the Ronald McDonald House nearby, while family looked after the girls.
An X-ray three days later showed inflammation on his lungs, and he was rushed back in for another surgery.
‘Our little boy might not make it,’ I sobbed to Chris, who held me tight.
Six days after the ordeal, another X-ray confirmed Dusty’s lungs were healthier and his oxygen levels were stable.
Dusty was brought out of his coma later that day, and we cheered when our brave boy started breathing on his own.
When his eyes fluttered open, tears filled mine.
‘You’re safe. Mummy’s here,’ I soothed.
Still, they wanted to keep him in for monitoring for a few days.
‘We love you, Dusty,’ Indi and Olive said when they came to visit.
By week two, Dusty was getting stronger each day. My heart burst when my boy’s smile returned.
After two and a half weeks in hospital, Dusty was finally discharged.
Now eight weeks on, Dusty is back to his old cheeky self, playing with his toy tractor and eating chocolate.
While doctors are unsure whether the ordeal will cause long-term impact to his lungs, Dusty isn’t showing any signs of respiratory problems.
Still, he will need a check-up every three months to monitor his progress.
Since sharing Dusty’s story, the supplier of the decorative powder, Crumb Australia Pty Ltd, has issued a nationwide recall for several colours of its Creative Cake Decorating metallic powder range.
Now I’m fighting to have similar products removed from the market and warning other parents and bakers about the dangers non-edible decorative glitters can cause.
Baking a cake almost killed my boy. We’re so grateful for his second chance!
We reached out to Crumb Australia Pty Ltd for comment, but did not receive a response.
