- Jade Thorburn from Paeroa, NZ was making chicken nuggets for her children when the unthinkable happened
- Her bub Xavier had gone into the pantry and knocked over the deep fryer which was full of hot oil
- He was flown to Waikato Hospital in Hamilton
Here she shares her story in her own words.
As I served up dinner, my husband Daniel, then 32, wrangled our children together at the dining table.
While Rylee, then 10, Harper, seven, and Zoey, five, took their seats, Daniel carried our youngest kids, Ember, two, and Xavier, one, and popped them into their high chairs.
It was August 2021, and being a family of seven, life was always busy!
Night time was especially chaotic, trying to feed and bath the kids before bed time.
On top of that, Xavier had just started walking, and loved pulling open drawers and touching everything, so we tried our best to keep a close eye on him at all times.
That night, I used our trusty deep fryer to prepare chicken nuggets for one of our family’s favourite meals – chicken and salad wraps.
‘Mmm, yummy!’ the kids agreed.
After dinner, the big kids popped their plates in the dishwasher and Harper, Zoey and Ember ran off to play in one of their bedrooms.
Daniel, Rylee and I got busy finishing to clean up in the kitchen, with little Xavier at our feet.
While I started washing up the remaining dishes, Daniel cleared the bench, moving the deep fryer onto the lower shelf of our walk-in pantry.
Though the oil hadn’t completely cooled, we always moved it off the bench, out of the kids’ reach.
‘We suddenly heard a loud bang.’
As Daniel and Rylee stood next to me to dry the dishes, we suddenly heard a loud bang coming from the pantry.
It was followed by a blood-curdling scream.
Opening the door, we found poor little Xavier standing in a pool of hot oil.
Horrified, we realised he must have snuck in and had knocked over the deep fryer in the dark.
We had a childprooflock, but still clearing up after dinner, we hadn’t fastened it yet.
‘Oh my God!’ I screamed, frozen in shock.
Thankfully, Daniel, who works as a volunteer firefighter, scooped up our boy and rushed him to the bathtub.
‘Ring Nana!’ I cried to Rylee.
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Thankfully my mum Donna, then 56, lived just 150 metres down the road from us.
As Daniel stripped off Xavier’s one-piece suit to run cold water over his body, we could see our bub was burned on his right side, back, and feet.
‘His toes and feet were badly scorched.’
His toes and the soles of his feet were so badly scorched, he was covered in painful blisters.
Mum arrived, followed by my brother Jacob, then 28, and his partner Huria, 23, who also lived nearby.
While Huria soothed our kids in the girls’ bedroom, Mum called an ambulance.
The wait felt like an eternity as our poor bub’s harrowing screams went on, and his lips had turned blue from the cold water.
When they arrived 15 minutes later, the ambos gave our son pain relief.
Then the confirmed a Westpac Rescue Helicopter would meet us at the nearby fire station, to take our boy to Waikato Hospital in Hamilton.
Panicked, I burst into tears.
It had all happened so very quickly.
With Jacob and Huria staying behind to take care of our younger kids, I rode in the ambulance with Xavier, while Daniel, Mum and Rylee followed behind.
‘The chopper made the dash to hospital.’
By the time we arrived at the fire station two minutes later, the helicopter was already there waiting.
Thankfully, after a second round of pain relief, Xavier stopped crying and fell asleep, as the chopper made the dash to hospital.
Since Mum had come in a separate car to Daniel, she and Rylee waved us goodbye and drove back home, while Daniel followed us to the hospital.
‘He’s going to be alright,’ the paramedics reassured me on the way.
We should’ve childproof-locked the pantry and this never would’ve happened, I thought, feeling guilty.
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When we got to the hospital, doctors confirmed Xavier had suffered mild first degree thermal burns on his feet.
Thankfully, the other burns weren’t as severe.
Just under an hour later, Daniel arrived to be by our boy’s side.
The next day Xavier underwent surgery, where doctors cut off the blisters, scraped away the dead skin and dressed his wounds.
Afterwards, he was doing much better.
However, a day later, the burns underneath his right armpit got infected, so he was prescribed antibiotics.
A week after the ordeal, Xavier was discharged from hospital.
He was wrapped in bandages, and had to wear non-slip compression socks to protect his feet.
‘His siblings were thrilled to see him home.’
Reunited back home, his siblings were thrilled to see their baby brother happy and healthy.
‘We missed you, Xavy,’ they said, cuddling him very carefully.
After a week, the socks came off, and the bandages the following week.
As his new skin grew, we were extra careful about sun exposure, lathering Xavier in sunscreen before he was allowed outside.
Two years on, our beautiful boy, now three, is thriving.
Thankfully, Xavier wasn’t left with any scars.
‘His tootsies are now extra sensitive!’
However he does have super ticklish feet now, as doctors scraped away layers of skin which we believe has made his tootsies extra sensitive!
When Daniel and I got married in April last year, our brave little soldier joined his big brother Rylee, then 11, as our groomsmen, while our girls, Harper, eight, Zoey, six, and Ember, three, and Daniel’s daughter Kelly, 14, were bridesmaids.
We’ll remain forever thankful for the medical and rescue teams, and our beautiful support network following Xavy’s accident.
Without them, who knows how much worse his injuries could’ve been.
And we’ve learned to always put the deep fryer safely away after use, and remember to use our childproof locks.
Xavier was incredibly lucky, but other children may not be.
This story was published in 2023.
