I was left with second degree burns after using an out of date hot water bottle

Warning: graphic images.

A woman is urging others not to use old hot water bottles after hers exploded and left her hospitalised with second degree burns.

Jessica Shanks, 25, from Corfe Mullen in Dorset had checked her hot water bottle's expiry date, noticed it was two years out of date but assumed it would still be fine to use. "I just didn't think anything would happen," she explains.

Hoping to soothe her stomach cramps, Jessica placed the hot water bottle between her stomach and the waistband of her pyjamas while she was in bed, but was left in "agony" after the bottle exploded. "It started to trickle down my thighs from bottom of the water bottle and as I moved in shock, it burst," Jessica explains. "I immediately jumped up from the bed. My partner, Finley, who I was in bed with saw the hot water bottle had exploded and got me straight into the bath and showered me down for 15 minutes in cold water."

Despite Finley's quick thinking, the pain was so severe that Jessica fainted. She was rushed to Poole hospital by her mum and put under a cold shower for 20 minutes. She was given pain medication, including paracetamol and morphine, while doctors focused on preventing any infection.

Having been diagnosed with second degree burns, Jessica, who works in a school for children with special educational needs, was transferred to the burns unit at Salisbury hospital where she spent the next two and a half weeks recovering from her injuries.

"They had to pop all the blisters which were on my stomach, both my inner thighs and groin," Jessica says of her burns. "This was the Saturday and they said they'd make an appointment at Salisbury Burn Unit on Monday. But soon the nurse who was dealing with me said they were going to admit me to Salisbury given where the injuries were."

Jessica recalls feeling in unbearable pain while her burns were treated. "I remember having a shower with one of the nurses and my mum as I couldn't stand and I had to have gas and air every time they changed the dressings as I was in agony," she explains. "I used gas and air in the shower and one of the gauze was stuck in the wound and we had to try and peel it off."

A week after her accident, Jessica had skin graft surgery and was operated on for two hours where surgeons took skin from her outer thigh. "When I woke up in recovery after the surgery I was so much more positive as the surgery had halved the pain," she explains. "It was easier to sleep in bed and it was manageable to get up and take a few steps. But I had to be catheterised for a week and a half as I couldn't sit on the toilet without getting the bandages wet or risk infection."

During her recovery Jessica says she was almost completely bed bound. "I had physiotherapy every day to get me up and into the chair next to my bed," she says. "I was going a bit stir crazy from being in bed."

Her wounds are now healing well and since being discharged last week, she has been able to walk around her village for up to 15 minutes at a time.

She now wants to raise awareness about the risks of not taking note of hot water expiry dates. "It is useful hot water bottles have them," she explains. "This one came from within the family and I never thought something like this would happen."

While she fully recovers from. her injuries Jessica is fundraising for Salisbury burn unit who she said gave her 'phenomenal' care. "Everyone has been so amazing and I'm so grateful as it was traumatising," she says. "It was the most painful thing I've ever had. I want to be able to say thank you and show appreciate for the amazing work they do."

Hot water bottle safety

Earlier this year consumer expert, Alice Beer warned that hot water bottles generally only have a two-year lifespan and using them past the expiry runs the risk of the rubber bottles splitting because the rubber has degraded.

According to the British Burns Association, one person in the UK gets seriously scalded every day from filling or using a hot water bottle.

NHS advice on safe hot water bottle use

• Fill the bottle with hot, but not boiling water

• Make sure the stopper is securely screwed on

• Fill the bottle to a maximum of three-quarters full

• Wrap the bottle in a towel to prevent direct contact

• Avoid taking the bottle to bed

• Frequently examine the bottle for signs of wear and tear

• Make sure it has been tested to BS1970:2006 standards

• Expel all air above the water level before sealing carefully, to prevent injury from the escaping hot steam

• Replace the bottle after two years

• Special care should be taken when used by those with sensory deficits, the elderly and children

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