When we have children, we often have them by our side while we do our daily tasks. Toddlers can be an enjoyable part of our day, but safety always has to rule the moment.

Unfortunately, one mother is learning too late that safety cannot be lax, not even for a moment. She had a moment of indiscretion with her four-year-old toddler, and now the toddler was blind in one eye. Four-year-old Luca de Groot was busy around the home helping her mother, Jodi Lowe. They were getting ready to do the laundry, when the mother handed the little girl a laundry pod.

Almost immediately after that happened, the little girl started screaming. She had accidentally rubbed the product across her eyes before the mother could stop her.

This incident occurred in Perth, Western Australia. The mother said: “It’s been pretty traumatic. It’s not easy seeing your daughter in so much pain with nothing you can do.” he little girl was handed a Persil laundry pod and without even thinking, she had bitten into it and it burst in her face.

The mother said: “Luca was helping me with the laundry and I gave her the pod just to hold while I put the washing on. “And by the time I’d turned around, she’d already bitten into it, and it went into her eyes. They’re quite solid, so when you pop them, they spray. “And kids being kids, she rubbed her eyes, which meant it went across both eyes.

“She’s never had the urge to bite before. It’s very out of character for her. She helps me with the laundry a lot, but doesn’t normally play with them.” The little girl was taken immediately to the shower so that the chemicals could be rinsed from her face and eyes. She also looked at the packaging, which said to ‘immediately flush [eyes] with water… and seek medical advice.’

The mother said: “I put her into the shower and looked at the back of the product, and it said to ‘seek medical advice’ so I didn’t think it was going to cause much of an issue. “She was screaming and really upset.”

Luca was becoming more and more upset and her screams were getting worse. The mother took her to the hospital and she was rushed into surgery. Unfortunately, four attempts to flush her eyes had already failed. When they did a second operation, they found a small defect in the little girl’s eye. A third surgery was basically an amniotic membrane transplant to help with the healing process.

The mother said: “There was a point where they thought she’d need a fourth surgery because she wasn’t opening her eyes, but we managed to encourage her to open her eyes.” A few days after the incident, Luca’s eyes were swollen and red and covered with scabs and blisters. She was discharged from the hospital after 16 days but has not yet fully recovered her eyesight because of a visual impairment that the accident caused.

The little girl’s mother is now trying to warn everyone she can about this incident. She would also like to see more warnings on the Persil and Omo packaging, as the ones that are there are ‘not good enough’ according to the mother. She said: “I know [Persil] says keep them away from the kids, but on the packet it doesn’t say anything about going to a hospital. It just says ‘seek medical advice.’

“It needs to be more. It’s not good enough how it is. “I didn’t realize the extent of injuries they could cause. You wouldn’t think direct contact could cause pretty excessive burns, three surgeries, and 16 days in hospital. “There needs to be more awareness on their packaging.” A representative who works with the laundry company said: “Consumer safety is of paramount importance to Unilever. Any incident with children involving laundry capsules is one too many.

“Our liquid detergent capsules are not intended for use by children, and packaging is fitted with child safety closures and warnings on the front and back of pack. “We have spoken to the mother about her child’s incident and will conduct a review of the warnings and safety advice on our laundry capsule range in Australia.”