WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Professional baker Katie Robinson was making a Bluey-themed birthday cake when her toddler grabbed a container of gold decorating dust and reportedly inhaled it
The family of a toddler who was placed into an induced coma after breathing in cake decorating powder has shared a heartening update on his progress.
The 14-month-old boy has been battling for his life after inhaling the common ingredient used to adorn cakes and other sweet treats. Katie Robinson, a professional baker in Australia, was crafting a Bluey-themed birthday cake for a mate’s son when her own little one snatched a container of gold decorating dust.
Little Dustin was rushed into emergency surgery at Brisbane’s Queensland Children’s Hospital in Australia to extract decorative lustre dust that had solidified into paste within his lungs.
Katie has now revealed that the Gold Coast youngster is breathing well independently as he continues his recovery from the incident.
“Dusty has had his breathing tube taken out and now has high flow oxygen through nasal prongs,” she wrote in an update to those who have donated to help support the family via GoFundMe, reports the Mirror.
“His meds have decreased but he is still in a drowsy state. The doctors are happy with his progression, however still unsure about lasting effects on the lungs.”
More than 1000 people have contributed to the family via the platform.
“Thank you so so much for the incredible amount of love and support for Dusty and his family!” the organiser Rochelle Evrard – a long-time client of Katie’s and the person she was making a Bluey cake for at the time of the accident – wrote on Friday.
“We have well and truly exceeded expectations from the community. Not only with monetary donations but our inboxes have been flooded with support and offers of help and accommodation.”
The little lad was being watched over in the studio of his home while his mum put the final touches on the cake. It’s believed that he pulled down a tube of lustre dust powder before he started choking.
“Within seconds [he] had just pulled it off with his teeth, the cap, and just inhaled it and ingested it at the same time,” Katie told an Australian news site earlier this week.
“He was just choking and getting upset, and you could tell that he was starting to struggle to breathe.”
Dustin’s parents, Katie and Chris, began first aid while dialling for emergency services.
“In the time it took for the ambulance to get there, he was not breathing well. He was grunting, really low grunt and then trying to take a quick, sharp breath in,” Katie added.
“His body was flopping around, his eyes were rolling in his head, and he was just getting unresponsive. I was trying to slap his cheeks, call out his name, and he just wasn’t opening his eyes. So [it] got really scary at that point.”
Dustin needed surgery to “flush out his lungs” using a saline solution. Medical professionals later determined that the dust contained copper.
Copper can cause respiratory distress, severe lung damage and even long-term chronic damage when ingested.
“It’s just not a product that you would expect to be anywhere near anything that has to do with food,” Katie stated.
“All the doctors have said this is such a rare case … they haven’t really seen this before. So it’s been a difficult one for everyone.”
The dust was marked for use on removable parts of a cake.