Toddler left blind after biting into Persil washing pod
A toddler has faced three tough surgeries after being rendered blind from chomping on a Persil washing pod, leading to a dire caution for other parents. Jodi, 34, hailing from Perth, Western Australia, was horror-struck when her four-year-old, Luca de Groot , bit into the detergent capsule and, while lending a hand with the laundry, accidentally smeared the substance over her eyes. The distraught mother immediately hurried the tot to the shower, trying desperately to rinse off the chemical. On March 23, amidst unbearable pain that left Luca "hysterical" and struggling to settle, she was whisked away to hospital. There, after futile attempts to clean her eyes out four times, surgery became the only option. Harrowing images reveal Luca's fiery, puffed-up eyes, marred by blisters and scabs which manifested mere days after the encounter with the cleaning agent. Eventually released home following a 16-day hospital stay, the young girl's vision is still compromised due to damage inflicted by the mishap, reports the Mirror . The laundry pod, known as Omo in Australia and branded as Persil in the UK, claims to present a triple action capsule performance with 'Comfort freshness. ' In the wake of her daughter's grave injury, Jodi insists on enhancing warning labels on such products. The sales manager recounted: " Luca was helping me with the laundry and I gave her the pod just to hold while I put the washing on. "And by the time I'd turned around, she'd already bitten into it and it went into her eyes. They're quite solid so when you pop them, they spray. And kids being kids she rubbed her eyes, which meant it went across both eyes. She's never had the urge to bite before. It's very out of character for her. She helps me with the laundry a lot but doesn't normally play with them. They do look and smell quite nice. They're attractive to kids . "I put her into the shower and looked at the back of the product and it said to 'seek medical advice' so I didn't think it was going to cause much of an issue. She was screaming and really upset. I noticed she wasn't calming down, she was still hysterical. I called a poison line and asked for advice and they told me to go to hospital." While in hospital, Luca underwent three surgeries after doctors found a defect in her left eye, before having an amniotic membrane transplant in which surgeons apply a piece of amniotic membrane to the surface of the eye to help aid her healing. After spending 16 days in the hospital, little Luca was released, though medics have said she is likely to experience redness around her eyes for anywhere from six months to a year. Jodi recounted the harrowing experience: "There was a point where they thought she'd need a fourth surgery because she wasn't opening her eyes but we managed to encourage her to open her eyes. Her sight in her left eye isn't fully there yet but is coming back slowly. She has a slight vision impairment. It could've been a lot worse. It's been pretty traumatic. It's not easy seeing your daughter in so much pain with nothing you can do." She is now arguing that current safety messages on Persil and Omo products aren't sufficient, and insists that packaging warnings need an overhaul. Jodi stated: "I know [Persil] say keep them away from the kids but on the packet it doesn't say anything about going to a hospital. It just says 'seek medical advice'. "It needs to be more. It's not good enough how it is. I didn't realise the extent of injuries they could cause. You wouldn't think direct contact could cause pretty excessive burns, three surgeries and 16 days in hospital. There needs to be more awareness on their packaging." Speaking to The Mirror, a Unilever spokesperson expressed their concern: "We were deeply saddened to hear about these injuries and have spoken to Luca's mother to understand what happened so we can investigate further. Safety is always our number one priority at Unilever, and our laundry capsules carry child impeding closures as well as prominent on-pack safety warnings in line with industry guidelines."
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