Gold Coast: Parents of toddler in intensive care after Bluey cake-making accident issue plea
While making a Bluey cake, their 14-month-old child inhaled metallic cake decorating powder which turned into a paste which blocked his lungs.
Heartbroken parents have spoken out for the first time since a baking mishap left their toddler in intensive care, fighting for his life.
Katie Robinson, a professional baker, was making a Bluey-themed cake for a friend on Friday when her 14-month-old child Dustin found a small vial of metallic decorating powder.
Parents Ms Robinson Robinson and Chris Wildman have described the moment their child stopped breathing to 7News.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Dusty was just pottering around like he normally does,” she said.
“Sometimes he just grabs a few things and plays with them.
“But he just found this little canister of metallic lustre dust and before we knew it he’d bitten the top off it and inhaled and ingested some of that powder.”
Soon after, Dustin was unable to breathe, as the dust had turned into a paste and blocked his lungs.
“He was coughing and getting really distressed and then he sort of became a bit more unresponsive,” Ms Robinson said.
“His eyes were rolling in his head and he couldn’t breathe properly.”
The family quickly called emergency services.
“We couldn’t rouse him,” she said.
“He was getting all floppy and his head was dropping and we were trying to keep him upright so that he could breathe properly, but he was really struggling to breathe.
“It was terrifying to watch.”
As Ms Robinson spoke with emergency operators, Mr Wildman tried to stop the boy from losing consciousness.
“Just trying to keep him awake,” he said.
“I just felt so helpless.”
Dustin remains in intensive care at Queensland Children’s Hospital, where he has been since the incident on Friday afternoon.
On Thursday morning, Ms Robinson said on Sunrise Dustin had made “some progress” overnight.
“He’s telling us he’s ready for his little tube to come out, which is amazing.”
Ms Robinson said his lungs were “very inflamed”.
“His stomach is also a bit inflamed, so we’re just trying to work on getting that inflammation down and expelling the copper that’s inside of him, because the product was made from copper, which is the worst part.”
The family are urging other families with children to check their cupboards and dispose of products which are not clearly labelled as edible.
“The packaging is quite vague,” she said of the product Dustin inhaled.
“It doesn’t say anything about it not being edible or it being toxic or anything like that.”
Mr Wildman said there was no ingredient list on the product.
“To the untrained eye, to me, I had no idea,” he said.
“I thought it was glitter, like an edible glitter like (Ms Robinson) always uses.”
As a professional baker, Ms Robinson said there were so many similar products on the market clearly labelled as edible.
“It could happen to anyone,” she said.
The family said the supplier has removed the product from sale.
At the time of publication, no recall had been posted on the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand website.
“She has contacted all of her stockists and gotten them to take it off the shelf and destroy it,” Ms Robinson said.
“So not just put it away, but it’s going to be gone.”
A GoFundMe set up by a family friend had raised more than $44,000 on Thursday morning.
“We are so grateful for all this support,” Ms Robinson said.
“We would’ve been so stressed about money, we’re both sole-traders.”
