Mum Releases Shocking Image Of Daughter's Second-Degree Burns From Portable Radiator

Medics had to perform a skin graft on two-year-old Bella Davey-Lawrence.

Warning: some readers may find the images below graphic.

A mother has released a shocking image of the burns her toddler received from a portable radiator while she was playing.

Bella Davey-Lawrence, two, got stuck between the bed and a radiator, sustaining second degree burns on her back, buttocks, elbows and left calf.

Bella was airlifted to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and bandaged up "like a mummy" after the incident in January 2016.

"Bella was taken into theatre four times to clean her burns, stop infection and cover them with a skin graft from her thigh," said her mum Natashia Davey, from Axminster in Devon.

"Bella was in a lot of pain. She’d get angry with the doctors and nurses who came to change her dressings and give her injections."

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Recalling the moment she found out about her daughter’s injuries, Davey, said: "My kids, Curtis, [nine], Rebecca, [three], and Bella had all gone round to their dads' houses for the weekend and I was at my boyfriend's.

"I woke up to find ten missed calls from my girls' dad saying Bella had been burned and I needed to get round there.

"I didn't want to believe it."

When Davey arrived on the scene, she found two paramedics from an ambulance and two paramedics from the air ambulance service looking after her daughter.

"Bella was in a towel so I didn't get to see her burns," she continued.

"I had no idea what had happened and there was no time to ask.

"We were walked to a helicopter. I was strapped to a stretcher and Bella was strapped to me.

"She got a bit upset as we got in the air ambulance, but before that she seemed fine and I assumed she'd had medication for the pain."

The pair were flown to the burns unit at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

"The doctors kept asking me questions I couldn’t answer as I hadn't been there so they rang Bella's dad,” said 31-year-old Davey.

"Then they told me there had been a leak in the girls' bedroom and their dad had put a plug-in radiator in there to dry it out.

"It was at the foot of the bed and there was a gap between the bed and radiator that Bella had got in to.

"My ex was in the kitchen and the girls' bedroom door was closed so he didn't know what was happening until he heard screaming.

"We have no idea what happened in the bedroom - if she'd fallen off her bed and landed in the gap or climbed down and then got burnt."

Medics performed a skin graft, taking skin from Bella's thigh to cover the wounds.

Davey said her daughter suffered with nightmares whilst recovering in hospital, often waking up in tears.

After four days in hospital, Bella’s sister came to visit her.

"Rebecca came in to the hospital a couple of times to see her sister and she was excited at first," Davey said.

"But when she saw Bella with feeding tubes I think she was shocked and worried about her."

While Bella was in hospital, her mum was provided a camp bed to sleep on so she could stay at her daughter’s bedside.

The toddler was kept in hospital for eight days. When she left she was "bandaged up like a mummy".

For two weeks, a nurse visited the family home to check on Bella.

"Bella doesn't have any bandages now, but she has a medical plaster on her buttocks as, because of her nappy, she's having trouble healing there," Davey said.

"She complains sometimes that the burns hurt, but otherwise she's doing well and is now back at playgroup."

Bella Davey-Lawrence wearing her Frozen-inspired pressure garment.
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Bella Davey-Lawrence wearing her Frozen-inspired pressure garment.

On 24 February Bella was measured for a pressure garment to wear to help her skin graft heal flat and was told to pick three designs as, if she gets on well with her first garment, she'll receive two more.

"Bella has been wearing her first pressure garment since 8 March," Davey said.

"She asked for it to be purple with Frozen's Anna and Elsa on it.

"The other two, which she'll receive if she gets on okay with this garment, are green camouflage with a Snow White design and a red one.

"She really enjoyed picking her designs.

"Bella will need to wear the garments day and night for two years. As she grows, she'll get fitted for more garments and will receive three at a time."

As a thank you for the support the family received from Bristol children's hospital Davey has set up a GoFundMe page to "give something back.”

She is hoping to raise thousands for the hospital that saved her daughter.

"As an adult, it was hard being on the children’s' burns ward," she said.

"I saw children not as bad as Bella, and a lot worse. The screaming you hear from them while doctors and nurses are seeing them was horrific.

"How the doctors and nurses go in every day and cope was beyond me.

"They looked after Bella and I, and I wanted to give something back to them to say thank you."

Donate to fundraising campaign at www.gofundme.com/53j56s5u.

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