The 14-month-old boy has been fighting for his life after inhaling the common ingredient used to decorate cakes and other desserts while his mum was making a birthday cake
The family of a toddler who was put into an induced coma after inhaling cake decorating power has issued a heart-warming update on his condition.
The 14-month-old boy has been fighting for his life after inhaling the common ingredient used to decorate cakes and other desserts. Katie Robinson, a professional baker in Australia, was making a Bluey-themed birthday cake for a friend’s son when her own child grabbed a container of gold decorating dust.
Little Dustin was rushed into emergency surgery at Brisbane’s Queensland Children’s Hospital in Australia to remove decorative lustre dust that had turned to paste in his lungs.
Katie said has now said that the Gold Coast boy is breathing well on his own as he continues to recover from 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.
“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.”
Over 1000 people have donated to the family via the platform and more than $50,000 has been raised in just four days.
“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 boy was being supervised in the studio of his home while his mum put the finishing touches on the cake. It is understood that he pulled down a tube of lustre dust powder before he began 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 parent’s Katie and Chris began first aid while calling emergency responders.
“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 required surgery to “flush out his lungs” using a saline solution. Medical professionals later determined that the dust contained copper.
Copper can trigger 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 said.
“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 labelled for use on removal parts of a cake.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login