A school lad was left needing surgery after suffering severe sunburn on holiday, leading his mum to issue a warning about ‘out of date’ or fake sun creams.
Natalie Harvey had flown to Cape Verde with her partner Ben Limbrick, 40, and their two sons Hector, 10, and Hugo, 15, for a week-long sun-soaked getaway on Friday, August 16th.
The family of four insist they used UK-bought sun cream throughout their trip, which they say offered good protection from the sun’s rays. However, when they ran out of their lotion supply on the last day of the holiday, Ben purchased a bottle of SPF90 lotion from the hotel shop for him and Hector to use.
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After slathering on the cream half an hour before stepping into the 29-degree heat, Natalie says Hector and Ben spent two hours frolicking in the pool and soaking up the sun before jetting back home.
(Image: Kennedy News & Media)
However, Hector started feeling drowsy and hot at the airport and then developed 8cm ‘watery’ blisters all over his body upon landing.
After dialling 111, Hector was rushed to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where he received treatment for sunburn and underwent a procedure to clean his blisters.
Natalie believes that the cause of her son’s burns is yet to be confirmed but alleges that doctors hinted that the cream bought overseas might have been expired or fake, hence failing to shield him from the sun’s rays.
(Image: Kennedy News & Media)
The distraught teacher is now spreading the word about her son’s ordeal to alert other parents to check the star and UVA rating on sun lotion bought abroad to prevent similar incidents.
Natalie Harvey, from Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, shared: “Hector seemed absolutely fine until we got to the airport and he seemed to be quite drowsy and hot.
“When Hector took his top off when we got home, he started blistering and they were about 8cm full of water. They were on his shoulders, top of his chest and back.
“I couldn’t believe he was sunburnt. He had been wearing the highest sun cream factor I had ever seen [SPF90] and he was burnt.
“I felt sick when I saw the blisters and I wished it was me.”
(Image: Kennedy News & Media)
She said the docs suggested that the sun cream could be out of date and also counterfeit.
Following surgery, Hector was bandaged up to prevent infection and remained in hospital until his discharge on Wednesday, August 28.
Natalie commented: “I don’t think he’ll be left with any scars but at the moment he’s blotchy and has lots of red patches all over him.”
“He looks like he’s had hot water thrown over him. For me personally I would never buy it again [sun cream] in another country.”
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