An Edinburgh shop worker was rushed to hospital at the weekend after he accidentally drank hand sanitiser.
Arran Lawson was working at Scotmid on Friday night (December 18) when his health deteriorated after making the potentially fatal mistake.
While on shift at the store on Prestonpans High Street, the 22-year-old had believed the plastic bottle was filled with water before taking a drink.
Shortly after "taking a swig", Arran was rushed to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary as he began to vomit repeatedly.
An emergency ambulance arrived at the store at around 10pm, after which Arran was kept in the hospital overnight for treatment, reports the Daily Record.
Speaking about the terrifying ordeal, Arran said the bottle of water he had on his till had been mistaken for the large hand sanitiser.
He added: "It was traumatising and scary for it to happen.
"I always have a bottle of water with me on my shift especially now we wear face masks as you can get dehydrated.
“I got distracted on the tills while watching customers on the CCTV cameras and took a swig of what I thought was my water but then felt burning.
“I had accidentally picked up the hand sanitiser which is in a clear bottle and swallowed it.
“It didn’t have a taste or smell really so I didn’t really notice until it was too late and just panicked.
He continued: “My throat and stomach were so painful and burned a lot, I ran to the toilet and started to repeatedly throw up and had to be put into the recovery position.
“My manager phoned 101 but I needed an ambulance so the paramedics arrived.
“I was taken to hospital and got out the next day, now I'm at home but not fully better yet.”
A Scotmid spokesperson said: “We have been in contact with our member of staff to check on his wellbeing and are currently investigating the incident.
"All hand sanitiser bottles are clearly labelled for customers to use when shopping in our stores.”
