A mother has issued a caution to others after her young child underwent three surgeries following an incident with a household product.
Jodi Lowe from Perth, Australia, was tending to laundry on March 23 with her four-year-old daughter, Luca de Groot, nearby. Trusting that her daughter wouldn’t feel the urge to bite, Jodi allowed Luca to hold a laundry detergent capsule while she focused on loading the washing machine.
Moments later, Jodi turned around to find Luca had bitten into the capsule, causing its contents to spray all over, including into Luca’s eyes.
In distress, the toddler began to rub her eyes, inadvertently spreading the detergent. Acting swiftly, Jodi took her daughter to the shower to rinse her eyes and consulted the product’s label for guidance.
Jodi recounted, “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.”
Despite flushing her eyes with water, Luca’s discomfort persisted, leading Jodi to contact a poison helpline, which advised immediate hospital care.
Luca was admitted to the hospital for 16 days, undergoing three eye surgeries. Initial attempts by medical staff to cleanse her eyes were unsuccessful. During the second procedure, a defect in Luca’s eyes was identified, and a subsequent surgery involved an amniotic membrane transplant.
Upon discharge, doctors assured Jodi that her daughter’s vision would eventually return, though the redness could linger for six to 12 months.
Jodi shared, “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.”
Luca’s grandmother remarked on the possibility of non-permanent damage, but shared that another child had suffered lasting injury in a similar incident.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Jodi described it as “pretty traumatic,” and emphasized the difficulty of watching her daughter endure so much pain.
By discussing Luca’s experience, Jodi aims to alert other parents and caregivers while also encouraging manufacturers to provide clearer guidance on their product packaging.
“I know [companies] 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,” Jodi stated. “There needs to be more awareness on their packaging.”
A representative from Unilever, the producer of the laundry capsules in question, commented: “Consumer safety is of paramount importance to Unilever. Any incident with children involving laundry capsules is one too many.”
“Our liquid detergent capsules are not intended for use by children, and packaging is fitted with child safety closures and warnings on the front and back of pack. We have spoken to the mother about her child’s incident and will conduct a review of the warnings and safety advice on our laundry capsule range in Australia.”