A Manchester woman has issued an urgent warning to hot water bottle users, after suffering agonizing burns to her legs and pelvis when her rubber bottle exploded in her lap.
Yazmin Hardy, 27, didn’t know hot water bottles have an expiry date and was using a product that was “out of date” by two years.
Experts say you should change your hot water bottle after two years, as the rubber degrades over time, making it more likely to break.
A number, usually embedded in a rubber flower shape, indicates the date the bottle was manufactured; for example, 20 by 2020.
Hardy discovered after the accident that his bottle expired in 2022. Now, doctors say he may be scarred for life.
Yazmin Hardy regularly used a hot water bottle to relieve menstrual cramps and was unaware of the safety concerns.
In July, the recruitment consultant reached for her hot water bottle in a bid to curb period cramps.
After filling the bottle to the top with boiling water, he put it back on its lid and headed to the couch to lie down.
Minutes later, he said the product exploded, spilling scalding liquid onto his legs, lower abdomen and hands.
Immediately, he said he stripped naked and stepped into a cold shower for 30 minutes to ease the pain.
But when his leg continued to burn, he went to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.
There, doctors removed dead skin and dressed his wounds.
Ms Hardy said she got into the shower straight away, but the pressure of the water made her “skin fall off”.
Shocking images show the extent of Ms Hardy’s injuries, which extended from her legs to her pelvis.
At first, Hardy assumed that the water explosion was his fault, because he had not screwed the cap on his bottle correctly. When he returned from the hospital he saw a crack in the rubber.
He then returned to hospital every day for a fortnight to have his legs re-bandaged and says he may be scarred for life.
Shocking photos show Ms Hardy’s skin red, raw and blistered as she lay in a hospital bed awaiting treatment.
Following the incident, she says she will never use a hot water bottle again and wants to raise awareness about expiration dates.
“At first I thought it was my fault because I hadn’t screwed the lid on properly,” he said. “But when I got home from the hospital, I took another look and there was a small crack in the seam of the rubber bottle.
“The burns occurred mainly on the thigh and upper part of the vulva and then on the other inner part of the thigh.”
While jumping into the shower immediately after the accident relieved the pain, the pressure of the water caused the skin to “fall off” from his leg.
Experts recommend throwing away a hot water bottle after two years, as the rubber degrades and is likely to break. Pictured: The dead, scaly skin on Ms. Hardy’s hands.
Doctors say Hardy could be scarred for life as a result of this ordeal.
‘When I came out of the shower I had no skin there and it was bright red and more skin came off.
“For days my leg burned. A week later it was still burning.’
It’s been two months since she was burned, and although her skin is healing well, doctors say she may be left with scars for life.
He is now speaking out about the incident to urge other hot water bottle users to check the expiration date inside theirs.
‘They (doctors) can’t say if it will leave a scar or not because everyone is different, but you can still see the marks. If I shower, it still turns bright red.
“When I go on vacation I have to make sure my skin (in these areas) is not exposed to sunlight or that I have my factor 50 sunscreen on.”
Hardy said he has learned more safety rules about hot water bottles since the incident.
She said: ‘Actually, you shouldn’t fill the whole thing with the teapot. You should boil half hot water and the rest cold water.
‘You should also not fill it to the top due to pressure and also check the dates. I will never use a hot water bottle again.
“It’s too scary.”