Ottawa mom warns parents about exploding squeeze toy
Toy purchased at Michaels shot gel into girl's eyes, sending her to CHEO
An Ottawa mother is warning other parents about a squeeze toy she purchased from a popular arts and crafts chain after the product burst in her daughter's face, sending the young girl to hospital.
Erica Doucette said she bought the $5 squeezable candy corn from a Michaels store on Innes Road a few days before Halloween. She said she'd only had the toy home for about two hours when it burst in the face of her eight-year-old daughter, Annika, shooting white gel into the girl's eyes.
She wasn't doing anything [wrong]. You're supposed to squeeze it.- Erica Doucette
"Annika was screaming and my husband got a shirt or a towel and got what he could off her eyes," Doucette said. "It covered her face, got on the wall behind [her]. We got her up to the shower, rinsed her eyes out as much as we could."
Not knowing what was in the gel, Doucette feared the worst.
"I was terrified for [her] vision. I mean, we're dealing with her eyes," the mother of three said.
Rushed to CHEO
Doucette called the Ontario Poison Centre, but because there was no list of ingredients attached to the toy, she was advised to rush her daughter to CHEO.
Doctors there didn't want to treat the girl's eyes with bacterial drops or antibiotics because they didn't know what kind of substance they were dealing with.
By that time, the inflammation was causing her daughter discomfort and making it difficult for her to close one eye, Doucette said.
"That's what was so frustrating," she said. "When you see your kid in pain and you just want the treatment, but they were worried that if they treated her and it reacted it could affect her vision long-term, permanently."
Made in China
After again flushing the girl's eyes, doctors sent the family home. Annika's condition didn't improve, however, so the family returned to CHEO two days later.
During their second visit, an ophthalmologist diagnosed and treated Annika for edema, or swelling, in her left eye. The doctor told Doucette it was likely caused by the force of the gel hitting the girl's eye, not by the substance itself.
Between visits to CHEO, Doucette returned to the Michaels store where she'd purchased the item, which was made in China and distributed by a company called Creatology. She said a manager at the store assured her the remaining Halloween-themed toys would be removed from the shelves.
Similar toy pops up
Doucette has since discovered that a similar product distributed by the same company — this time in the shape of a penguin — popped up on shelves at Michaels earlier this month.
Even though she's been assured the gel isn't toxic, Doucette decided to post a warning to parents on Facebook about the toys.
"All I can think of is, what if a kid gets it for a Christmas stocking stuffer and injures themselves and ends up in CHEO at holiday season?" Doucette said.
She said when it happened to her daughter, the girl was playing with the toy the way kids are supposed to.
"She had it fully squeezed when it burst, but it also says 'monster squeeze toy' [on the sale tag], so she wasn't doing anything [wrong]. You're supposed to squeeze it."
Gel isn't toxic, Michaels says
In a statement to CBC, Michaels said it regrets the incident, and said the safety of its customers is the company's highest priority.
"We test our products to make sure they meet applicable quality and safety standards," the retailer said. "The toy in question was tested and passed required safety standards, and the gel in the toy is not toxic or hazardous."
Michaels sent Doucette a list of ingredients in the candy corn squeeze toy to demonstrate the gel inside is not toxic, as well as contact information for the toy's manufacturer in China.
Safety shortfalls
The head of the Consumers Council of Canada said it's important for people to report such problems to Health Canada.
- Choking hazards, chemical contamination top reasons for toy recalls
- Cosmetics and household products need more safety oversight, watchdog says
"It's very difficult for a law or regulators to anticipate everything that someone might do with certain materials and what the outcomes could be," said Ken Whitehurst, the council's executive director.
"Generally speaking, there's not an ongoing program of sampling all products to determine whether they're safe."
Doucette said she plans report her experience to Health Canada. In the meantime, she wants the retailer to either take similar products off its shelves, or attach a list of ingredients.
Meanwhile, Annika is waiting to see another ophthalmologist because Doucette said her daughter is still experiencing sensitivity to light.
