Boy, 6, 'needed life-saving operation' to free tongue stuck in Sainsbury's water bottle lid

A SIX-year-old boy nearly died after his tongue got stuck on the lid of a Sainsbury's reusable plastic water bottle lid.

Riley Wooff, from Lancaster, needed emergency surgery after his tongue went black and rapidly swelled in his mouth.

His mum Clare, 33, realised something was terribly wrong when her son when he started shouting that his song was suck as he sat in the back of the car.
Pulling over and expecting to easily free him from the lid, Clare panicked when it wouldn't budge.

After several attempts, frightened Riley begged her to ring an ambulance but Clare rushed him to Lancaster Royal Infirmary, Lancs, where several medics also failed to remove the lid.

As the little boy's tongue continued to swell Clare was taken aside and told he would need major surgery – but there was a risk it could kill him.

A team of 10 medics attended Riley's operation and were finally able to remove the lid under sedation, meaning he left hospital with his tongue still intact – albeit with a temporary speech impediment.

Now Clare is calling on parents to throw out any similar water bottles without safety gauze in to protect the tongue and is urging Sainsbury's to recall these bottles.

The surgeons said 'this is really serious. We need to warn you he could die'.

Clare, from Carnforth, Lancaster, said: "It was the scariest day of our lives.

"To think this is an everyday item most kids would have in their school lunch boxes – it's scary.

"To other parents, please, just throw them away. Even as an adult, it's easy to put your tongue in these bottles messing around.

"I think all bottles should have a gauze or something to stop this happening again – and Sainsbury's should also recall [those that don't]."

After being taken to Lancaster Royal Infirmary, his mum admits she still had no idea how serious the accident was – until doctors warned they would need specialist surgeons.

"We went in to A&E and a nurse couldn't loosen it either. Riley was really upset and screaming.

"A doctor managed to get the bottle off, then it was just the lid stuck on his tongue.

URGENT SURGERY

"There were about four specialists and 10 doctors at the end of his bed discussing what to do.

"He said they were going to operate but they didn't know if we'd need to be sent to Alder Hey Hospital. They didn't have the equipment.

"They didn't want to take to Alder Hey by ambulance because it was an hour and a half away from us. And they didn't want to risk Riley having difficulty breathing in the ambulance as they wouldn't be able to save him.

"The doctors said 'this is a real risk. The risks are he could lose his breathing when we cut the lid off. The swelling could go down his throat and he may need a tracheotomy, which would land him in intensive care.'

"He also said he had a big risk of heart attack because when the tongue is released, all the blood would circulate quickly and one of the major veins is in there.

"The surgeons said 'this is really serious. We need to warn you he could die'.

"They took him up to theatre and managed to sedate him, not put him to sleep.

"They took the bottle off and he managed to handle his airways fine."

When the brave patient came out of surgery, his tongue was so swollen he couldn't put it back in his mouth.

After an overnight stay he was discharged, but days later his tongue is still peeling and swollen, leaving him with a speech impediment.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are investigating this isolated incident with our supplier and wish Riley a speedy recovery.”

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