Sam Anwar, from Birmingham, was just 13 months old when he crept behind his mum who was cleaning the bathroom at their flat and drank caustic soda from a white bottle
A baby suffered a heart attack and lost half of his tongue after accidentally drinking ‘killer’ drain unblocker he mistook for milk.
Sam Anwar, from Highgate, Birmingham, was just 13 months old when he crept behind his mum who was cleaning the bathroom at their flat and drank caustic soda from a white bottle. The tot suffered catastrophic burns to his mouth, tongue, lips and airways over the summer. After suffering a heart attack, he was unconscious for three minutes.
He spent two months in intensive care at Birmingham Children’s Hospital having lost half of his tongue due to the toxic substance. He could not eat and initially had to be fed through his nose.
Doctors said they had never seen such a severe case in someone so young, with it being “a-million-to-one he survived”. Sam, now aged 18 months, is back home but he is being fed through his stomach.
His dad Nadeem Alshameri said he will require a complicated operation to “unlock” his mouth and repair the damage caused from the burns inside.
The dad-of-four has set up a GoFundMe page which will be needed to pay any medical bills. He said doctors continue to disagree about the best way to treat his son, leaving the family to explore specialist medical options abroad.
Warehouse worker Nadeem, 37, told BirminghamLive: “The Mrs was cleaning in the bathroom and he had been playing with his siblings and toys in the living room.
“Within a few seconds he had popped in the bathroom as we live in a flat. He came behind her and she didn’t realise he was behind her and saw the caustic soda on the floor, which is to unblock the drains/sink.
“He grabbed it and thought it was a bottle of milk and started drinking it. The taps were on (didn’t hear him come in) and she didn’t have time to get to him.
“The GP said it was one in a million he survived. It’s killer stuff. He passed out for three minutes and had a heart attack. It’s a miracle he survived and came back to life.”
Sam had surgery, but will require further operations. “I’ve been told they will try and do an operation for him,” said Nadeem. “Some doctors said they will do the surgery but others say it’s too early to do. They don’t know what to do with him.
“We could try and take him away to be treated abroad. But we don’t have enough money to do that. We worry about him putting things into his mouth because he can’t swallow and will start choking. I’m worried about him every day.”
