Mum’s warning as daughter steps on hot sand causing her skin to start ‘falling off’

A mum has shared a warning after her daughter stepped on some sand so hot that it caused severe burns to her foot.

Three-year-old Kalani was playing at a beach in Oregon with her mother, Heather, when she accidentally stepped on a patch of sand where a bonfire had recently been lit. Heather said that she heard her daughter scream. She then saw that the skin on the toddler's foot was "falling off." The images of Kalani's foot, which are quite graphic, can be viewed here.  On Facebook, the mum wrote:

"As she was running back and forth I saw her kind of sink down and then scream. I immediately ran to her and picked her up. "It was then that I saw the skin on her foot falling off. I ran her to the bathroom for clean water and called 911. Once we got to the hospital they told us this was the third child they had seen for a foot burn."

Heather said that she supposed it was "common for people to cover their fire embers/fires with sand." However, she said that this creates a "trap" for children who will be unaware of what went on in the area some hours before. The mum urged people to be cautious on the beach and to use water to cover a bonfire instead of sand. "This could have been so much worse, as my kids love to jump in the sand," she said. "Kalani is doing so good and healing well. We find out Thursday if she will need a skin graph." Heather finished her post by reminding people to use fresh water if they suffer severe burns on the beach and not salt water. Find clean water and treat the burn just like an open wound," she said. "Ocean water can contain bacteria like Staphylococcus Which can enter the blood stream through an open wound."