Mum’s horror after toddler's eye glued shut in nursery nail glue nightmare

Aimee Culverhouse’s son, Jack, 15 months, was attending First Steps Nursery, in Broughton Road, Skipton, on September 23, when she received a call to say he had been taken to Airedale Hospital.

Jack in hospital after pouring nail glue over his eye at First Steps Nursery

“I was asked to meet staff there because Jack had managed to reach some nail glue and pour it over his right eye.

"When I received the call I thought they were talking about PVA glue. That would have been bad enough but when I got to the hospital and found out it was nail glue I was terrified.

“Jack was screaming in pain. His eye was glued shut and his cheek and eyelid were red with chemical burns.

Jack's cheek and eyelid were read from the chemicals in the glue

"The doctors were not sure if the glue had got in his eye and they said he was going to be transferred to Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) so it could be dealt with by eye specialists.”

Aimee, 18, said all the time Jack was screaming and sobbing. She had been at college in Keighley that day.

She said Jack usually attended the Broughton Road nursery for three days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but because of the Queen’s funeral her college day had been changed to the 23rd, so she had had to change his nursery day too.

Jack's mum said it was a miracle none of the glue had gone in his eye

She said medical staff at BRI had suggested taking him to theatre to flush out his eye, but thankfully that wasn’t needed.

“They managed to wash as much of it off as they could using Coca-Cola of all things. Jack was allowed home but his lid was stuck down for days and it took over two weeks for the last of the glue to come off his lashes.

“He had to go back to hospital in Bradford twice the following week for check-ups. I still don’t know exactly how he got hold of the nail glue or even why nail glue was in the room at all.

Jack, a few days after his ordeal, looking a lot happier

"You expect your child to be safe at nursery. The incident has been reported to Ofsted.”

Aimee added that Jack now attends a nursery in Brougham Street. She said since the episode he will not sleep through at night and refuses to go into his cot.

"It has really unsettled him," she said.

A spokesman for First Steps Nursery said: "We acted immediately when the incident happened, with staff giving first aid and on paramedics’ advice when we phoned for an ambulance, we took the child to hospital for treatment.

"We take the care and safety of all the children at our nursery extremely seriously. It is our main priority. As such we implemented our safeguarding protocols, informing both the local authority and Ofsted of this incident.

"The member of staff involved was immediately suspended from work and following our investigation was ultimately dismissed.

"Ofsted attended and inspected the nursery on Monday, October 10, and have no concerns with the operation of the nursery or the actions we have taken.

"This was clearly a very distressing incident for the family and the child. We have maintained contact throughout and kept them updated with the progress and outcomes of the investigations conducted by us and by Ofsted.

"This was an isolated incident and the first time we have had any incident in over 25 years of operation. We are relieved that the child involved is recovering well.”