Boy, 6, nearly died after drinking drain cleaner he thought was water

Sonny in hospital
Vikki Arthur
Tom Marshall7 January 2016

A six-year-old boy nearly died after he drank drain cleaner which he thought was water.

Vikki Arthur says her son Sonny's insides "burned up" after he accidentally swallowed the lethal chemicals, which were in a mineral water bottle, at their home in Essex a few days before Christmas.

She had used the bottle to pour the fluid down the shower drain and although it was virtually empty, a few droplets remained which Sonny tried to drink.

Mrs Arthur, 45, said she heard a "horrible" scream as Sonny came running down the stairs in agony.

Sonny with his mother Vikki
Vikki Arthur

"He immediately started vomiting and foaming, it was like something out of a horror movie," she told the Standard.

"It was just awful, I have nightmares about it. You could see his body shutting down."

The family called an ambulance and Mrs Arthur says it was not until they were at hospital when she realised what had happened.

Sonny with his father Ian
Vikki Arthur

She said: "They asked if there was any way he could have digested cleaning products.

"That's when the penny dropped and they rushed him to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

"They prepared us for the worst and took him straight down to theatre in the middle of the night.

"He was on the brink of death."

Sonny with his siblings
Vikki Arthur

Sonny was induced into a coma and fitted with a tube to aid his breathing.

The family feared the worst, but after two days he woke up and then started to improve.

The incident happened on December 17 and he was allowed to go home, after spending two weeks in hospital, on New Year's Eve.

However, he faces a long recovery and will have to eat through a tube for at least a year, due to the damage caused to his oesophagus.

Mrs Arthur, who has six children aged six to 23 - Sonny is the youngest - is keen to warn other parents of the dangers of these chemicals.

She said: "It just burns all the internal organs, it’s horrible stuff. I'll never use that again.

"It was something that could have been prevented but it was just a stupid error.

"It could have happened to anybody. He’s quite a sensible kid and that it happened to him shows how easy it is."

She added: "This stuff is a killer, it’s lethal. It’s designed to unblock drains so you can imagine what does to the inside of the human body, it doesn’t bear thinking about."

Jenna Wingrave, a friend of the family, has set up a fundraising page to cover the family's ongoing travel expenses to and from Great Ormond Street Hospital and hotels for them to stay nearby.

Any extra funds will be given to the hospital, which Mrs Arthur thanks for saving two of her children.

Her 16-year-old daughter was born with craniosynostosis, a rare condition that affects the shape of the skull, and has received treatment from the hospital all her life.

"They're just amazing, amazing people. They save lives every day," Mrs Arthur said.

Donate to Jenna Wingrave's fundraising page here.

The Evening Standard is also using a charity appeal to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Visit standard.co.uk/gosh for more information or to donate.

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