A mum issued a warning to other parents after her son’s squishy toy burst in his face on a flight to Lanzarote.
Stephanie Harding, 32, bought her son Max, aged seven, a squishy toy from a Paperchase shop inside Manchester Airport’s duty free.
But three hours into their Thomas Cook flight, Max’s toy exploded, covering him in a foam that she said quickly set like rubber.
Stephanie, who lives in Crossens and has another son called Zack, 11, said: “I don’t think they’ve ever taken a toy like this on a flight abroad.
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“When it burst it was clear like a liquid foam so it looked a lot like bubble bath. I was sat right next to him so straight away it covered us both.
“It covered his face, it burst in his face. When I went to wipe a scoop of it out of his mouth it began to set like rubber. It was frightening.”
The contents from inside the toy soaked Max covering his eyes and nose, and passengers thought he may have been sick because he was that hysterical.
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She said Thomas Cook flight attendants were quick to help them, cleaning up Max and checking he was ok.
Stephanie added: “I was confused how the consistency of the contents changed once it was exposed to the air. I mean it could have played a part. It was suggested to me that it may have been the air pressure by someone else.”
Once off the flight, Stephanie disposed of her eldest son Zack’s toy and contacted Paperchase to find out the contents of the toy to see if he needed to be checked in a hospital.
Stephanie said: “Max was a bit off the rest of the day and the next day. Paperchase did remove it from sale and they removed it from the website and they gave Max a £20 voucher.
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“They said they always treat complaints like this very seriously. For me the saving grace in it all is Max is fine, he’s not got any medical problems from it.”
Paperchase has since supplied Stephanie with a toxicology report assuring the contents of the £4 toy are not dangerous.
But Stephanie is still concerned that this could happen again, as similar toys are sold elsewhere.
Paperchase declined to comment when approached by The ECHO.
