Baby boy suffers serious burns after getting stuck to a gas heater

Baby boy suffers serious burns and loses his fingertips after getting STUCK to a gas heater when his dad turned around for a split second

  • Six-month old left with third-degree burns after getting stuck to a gas heater
  • Incident happened in ‘split second’ when baby held onto bars in Moree, NSW
  • His hand – still numb a year on – was saved when his dad ran it under cold water

A six-month-old baby suffered third-degree burns and had his hand stuck in a cast for a year after he got stuck to a gas heater.

Ben Lysaght’s dad Beau said it happened within seconds as he went to grab his phone at their home in Moree in northwest NSW last July. 

Mr Lysaght quickly pulled his son off the heater and ran his hand under a tap, which doctors said saved him from needing a skin graft.

Ben Lysaght suffered third degree burns on his hand (pictured) after grabbing a gas heater 

The six-month-old (pictured) had his hand in a cast for nearly a year after the incident 

Mr Lysaght’s wife and Ben’s mum Georgie said the little boy grabbed the heater bars in a ‘split second’.

‘[Beau] and the kids were all playing on the floor, Ben in the walker,’ she said. 

‘The gas heater was on because the house we were in was freezing at this time of year, and Beau’s phone rung.

‘He turned to answer it and within that split second Ben pushed himself to the heater and grabbed hold of the bars.’ 

Ms Lysaght said her son’s hand got stuck on the bars and he was in so much pain he couldn’t make a noise. 

Georgie Lysaght (pictured with Ben and her daughter Brooklyn) said pouring cold water on Ben's hand stopped him from having to get a skin graft

Georgie Lysaght (pictured with Ben and her daughter Brooklyn) said pouring cold water on Ben’s hand stopped him from having to get a skin graft

Two of Ben's finger tips (pictured) were burned off, got stuck to the heater bars and could not be saved

Two of Ben’s finger tips (pictured) were burned off, got stuck to the heater bars and could not be saved

Her husband rushed Ben’s hand under cold water and when he called her, he was so upset he could only muster one word: ‘burn’.

Ms Lysaght, an aged care nurse, rushed home and the family drove to Moree Hospital with Ben’s hand wrapped in a damp cloth with ice.  

Ben was not crying when hospital staff touched his arm, which a nurse told them was because he had burnt all nerves off his hand.

‘We realised it was really bad because he couldn’t feel us touching it like he wasn’t in any pain,’ Ms Lysaght said. 

The tips of two of his fingers had been ripped off and were stuck to the bars of the gas heaters.

Ben was flown to Tamworth Hospital, and though the two fingertips died, his hand survived. 

Ms Lysaght (pictured with Ben) said it was only a 'split second' that her son's hands were holding the gas heater

Ms Lysaght (pictured with Ben) said it was only a ‘split second’ that her son’s hands were holding the gas heater

Ben (pictured) only had his hand stuck in the gas heater for a 'split second', his mum said

Ben (pictured) only had his hand stuck in the gas heater for a ‘split second’, his mum said 

Ben had third-degree burns on his hand

Ben had third-degree burns on his hand

The now one-year-old has only just had his cast taken off after nearly a year, and has full range of motion back in his hand.

‘He was very lucky that because of the first aid he got straight away he didn’t need a skin graft,’ Ms Lysaght said. 

Ben’s mum and dad hope that sharing their story will warn other parents about the danger’s of using a gas heater.

‘If you can get rid of it and switch to a spit system do it,’ she said.

‘If you want to use gas switch to something that blows hot air instead. You can get gas heaters that blow hot air and have cut of switches too switch are so much safer.’ 

She also recommended parents learn basic first aid.

‘For us it made the difference between our six-month-old needing a skin graft or not,’ she said.

‘Talk to your mothers groups or play groups sometimes you can do first aid together as a group, make a day of learning first aid with your friends and family.’  

If a child is burned, the only direct course of action is to run it under cold water for at least 20 minutes and rush to the hospital. 

Ben (pictured with sister Brooklyn) is now one, and is still undergoing physio because of the burns on his hand

Ben (pictured with sister Brooklyn) is now one, and is still undergoing physio because of the burns on his hand

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