A young girl suffered severe burns to her feet after she stepped on a red hot barbecue buried beneath the sand. Victim Simi Adenaike may need surgery after the incident which happened as she enjoyed a day out with her family.
Simi, aged seven, had been playing when she stepped on a patch of sand covering a buried disposable barbecue on Swansea Bay beach, South Wales. Her mum described how her daughter let out a "horrifying scream," and was in so much pain she could not even explain what had happened to her at first.
Once her family saw her feet and realised what had happened she was immediately taken to hospital for treatment. Simi, of Mount Pleasant, Swansea, may now need skin-graft surgery to repair the damage to her feet, reports WalesOnline.
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Simi's mum, Alex Adenaike said: "We had only just arrived at the beach and were looking forward to having some fun. The children started playing almost immediately and had been running around in the sand. We heard a horrifying scream and my daughter came running back.
“She was in so much pain, she was unable to tell us what happened. Eventually we realised one of her feet was very red and blistered. We had some help from some other visitors on the beach to cool down the burn with water and we got her to hospital immediately."
The family were later told by other beachgoers that a group had used a barbecue on the beach and tried to bury their foil tray in the sand before leaving, instead of using the dedicated barbecue bins.
"This is so upsetting and my daughter is now needing further treatment and possibly a skin graft," said Alex.
Health chiefs said recently a common misconception had led to a steep rise in often horrific beach barbecue accidents in Swansea Bay - namely that people thought burying their hot coals in the sand would cool them, whereas it actually heated the sand instead.
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