Mum may need skin graft after sparklers 'burst into flames' and set hand on fire
A woman has told of the terrifying moment sparklers set her hand on fire... and she was forced to grip them until she could drop them safely away from her children.
Mum-of-four Hannah Beadnall has warned of the dangers of sparklers after she lost the feeling in part of her hand, and might require a skin graft as a result of the New Year's Eve incident.
The 31-year-old from Middlesbrough said she'd bought the sparklers from a One Beyond store to celebrate the new year as well as her son's ninth birthday. She had been lighting them to hand out to her family when they "burst into flames".
Despite her hand being set on fire, Hannah continued to hold onto the sparklers as her children were close by, and she feared setting them alight.
She was able to drop them once the children were a safe distance away, but has been left with painful blistering skin.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge himExplaining the incident, Hannah told Teesside Live: "When it got to the countdown at midnight, we were all outside. I'd put the sparklers on my knee to straighten them up and as I started to light them. Instead of sparkling and burning down they set on fire in my hand.
"All of the children were around me so I couldn't fling them. They all had waterproof tracksuits on and I was worried it could set them alight.
"I had to keep hold of them in my hand until the kids moved back, when I could drop them it had already done really bad damage to my hand. I put it on Facebook and one of my friends messaged me to say the same thing happened to them but thankfully no one was hurt."
Hannah, who works as a housekeeper at James Cook University Hospital, shared images of her agonising burns, showing large blisters and sore open wounds on her hand.
Luckily, Hannah had a friend at the scene who is an accident and emergency nurse and she was able to come to her aid.
She held her hand underwater for 30 minutes before wrapping it in clingfilm.
But her burns were so bad that she had to go to Redcar Primary Care Hospital the next morning, where medics cut the blisters and dead skin from her hand.
Describing her injuries, she added: "I've got no feeling in part of my hand so they're referred me to the specialist clinic at James Cook.
"They wanted to keep me in but I've got four children so I've been told to keep it elevated which I'm doing at home. They've given me a cast which keeps my hand in the air.
"I need to go back in the morning to see if I will need a skin graft. As an adult to see the damage it's done to my hand I dread to think what it could have done to the kids."
Disabled woman paralysed after falling from wheelchair on plane walkway diesHannah has since reported the incident to the One Beyond store in Middlesbrough.
The store has said that their product manager has been informed and a full investigation will be carried out.