N.B. mom warns of sunsceen’s dangers after son burned

Jul 24, 2017 | 3:06 PM

What was supposed to be a fun day in the sun for one local family turned into a nightmare, as the sunscreen used that day to protect from burns, alledgedly ended up causing them instead.

Amanda Kaye, of North Battleford, was at the lake with her family celebrating Canada Day. She said she’s an advocate of sunscreen, especially when it comes to her fair-skinned, nine-year-old son Hudson. Kay said she picked up two bottles of Banana Boat-brand sunscreen and applied it to her son that day. When Hudson’s skin appeared redder throughout the day, Kaye kept applying more. 

“He had taken off his shirt… and he was completely red. He looked like a lobster,” Kaye said. “My husband and I thought maybe we had just not put enough on so we kept reapplying it. When we [returned home] he started complaining he was in pain. By supper time he was a mess. You couldn’t touch him… The only way he could sleep that night was sitting straight up.”

According to Kaye, things only got worse from there. She said by the morning Hudson’s shoulder was covered in mini blisters. Kaye’s sister-in-law told her about stories she had read about Banana Boat products causing similar burns. 

“I had hear of the stories before but, I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I don’t usually believe everything I hear on Facebook. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t know if it was my fault for buying the brand anyway,” she said.

Kaye said over the weekend Hudson’s condition worsened. She had to rush him to the doctors once they got back into town. According to Kaye, the doctor who examined Hudson was 99 per cent sure Hudson’s burns were chemical and not sun related. Kaye said he couldn’t confirm it was from the sunscreen, but according to her, the doctor did say it was more than likely the reason.

Hudson experienced pain for the following two weeks and missed out on a family vacation because physical movement and sun exposure were too painful for him.  

Kaye admitted as bad as Hudson’s condition was, it could have been a lot worse. Kaye also has a three-year-old daughter who, luckily, didn’t receive sunscreen.

“This is why I felt the need to warn people because if it was applied to someone like my daughter, I couldn’t imagine her having to deal with it for two weeks,” Kaye said. “Hudson is old enough to get through it okay but, for her, she would have been a mess I am sure.”

Kaye did try to contact Banana Boat and hasn’t received a response yet. She doesn’t plan on taking legal action. 

 

greg.higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @realgreghiggins