3-year-old suffers severe burns wearing Cancer Council sunscreen
A three-year-old boy has suffered severe burns while wearing a Cancer Council sunscreen branded after the popular children’s television character Peppa Pig.
Rivers Jasper from Cunderdin, Western Australia, was holidaying in Bali when the incident occurred, leaving him with welts and blister on his back, face, shoulders and ears.
Shannae and Paul Jasper, the three-year-old’s parents, say they applied the sun protection in their hotel room, and within minutes Rivers was screaming in pain.
“His skin was really, really tender and red. He was vomiting all the next day,” Ms Jasper told Seven News Perth.
“He's absolutely petrified now of when we try and put any type of spray, lotion, even in the bath he won't pour the water over his back. He won't let us touch him.”
The sunscreen had reportedly been sitting unused by the family for about a year, but according to the packaging it was still well within its expiry date.
Mrs Jasper uploaded pictures of her son’s injuries on social media, with more than 100 commentators sharing similar reactions with the own children.
“We don't want to stop supporting The Cancer Council or their product,” the family said, adding: “We just don't want others kids to go through what we've been through.”
Cancer Council Australia responded to the original post with the following statement, “Yesterday we were saddened to learn via Facebook that a young child had a negative experience with our SPF50+ Kids Sunscreen.
“We take any concern raised about our products very seriously and have been in direct contact with the boy’s mother, Jessie, to investigate this further.
“This product has been on the market for a number of years. Since it was introduced more than 250,000 bottles have been sold. We have only received a very small number of complaints regarding this product, some of which related to issues with the function of the pump spray, not the sunscreen itself.
“Sunscreens in Australia are strictly regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). All Cancer Council sunscreens and their ingredients are fully compliant with these regulations and all of our sunscreens are independently tested to ensure they exceed the SPF level advised on the bottle.
“Additionally, all products formulated for sensitive skin, including our SPF50+ Kids Sunscreen, are dermatologically tested to ensure that they pass the Repeat Insult Patch Test (RIPT), a recognised formal skin sensitivity test for topically applied products. If you have sensitive skin, doing a personal patch test is even more important.”
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Image credit: Facebook / Shannae Lee Jasper