A mum who was left with third-degree burns and a permanent scar after her seven-year-old hot water bottle burst open on her lap has issued a stark warning to others, urging them to “never ever” use them. Karen O’Brien, a 52-year-old retail worker from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, suffered severe burns in March 2024 when the hot water bottle she was using burst, causing her skin to blister and peel away with her trousers, leaving “holes in the skin” that worsened by the hour.
At Leicester Royal Infirmary Hospital, doctors had to remove layers of damaged skin to prevent infection, leaving her with a large scar on her thigh and permanent skin discolouration. The emotional impact hit her two weeks later, as she found herself bursting into tears unexpectedly.
Over time, however, she came to accept her scar and no longer feels self-conscious. Now, Karen is extremely cautious around hot items and urges others to avoid hot water bottles.
Speaking to PA Real Life, Karen said: “When I first could see the skin, I had blisters coming up straight away, and then you could see where the skin just melted away. There were holes in the skin but every hour it was looking worse and worse and worse.
“At first I thought, ‘OK, I know I’ve done some damage here’ but it didn’t look that bad. After this, I found out you are supposed to replace (hot water bottles) after around a year, and a lot of them have the date they were manufactured on them… mine might have burst because it was so old.”
In March 2024, Karen suffered shingles on her scalp which left her with excruciating pain down the side of her neck and shoulder. To cope with the pain, she decided to use a hot water bottle.
Following her usual routine, she boiled water in a kettle, allowed it to cool for a minute, and then filled the hot water bottle to the brim.
Whilst relaxing on the sofa, the hot water bottle she had used for about seven years unexpectedly burst, and she recalls: “It was a complete accident rather than a design flaw… the boiling water went all over my legs so I jumped up and screamed and every time my trousers touched my leg, the pain was incredible.
“I’ve never known pain like it, it was horrendous. I pulled my trousers down, and as I did that, I could see the skin coming away with my trousers. I didn’t know what to do, (I) had never done anything like this before.”
Thankfully, Karen’s neighbour, a nurse, quickly came to her aid after she reached out for help. Her neighbour instructed her to take a bath, and after losing a considerable amount of skin over five hours, she took Karen to the hospital, describing the state of her injury as “hideous”.
At the hospital, a nurse had to remove surface layers of skin to prevent infection and apply dressings. Karen had to visit her GP every few days for redressing, and over time she lost “quite a large area of skin”.
It took more than a month for her injuries to fully heal. About two weeks after the incident, Karen’s emotions overwhelmed her.
“I couldn’t stop crying, and one minute I’d be fine, and the next minute, I just burst into tears,” she shared. “My daughter said I was in shock but mentally I found it very hard.”
Adding to her woes, Karen claimed that her job at the time did not provide sick pay, meaning she could “not afford to have time off” to recover. To help, Karen’s sister Dawn set up a GoFundMe to raise some extra money so Karen could take some time off work. The fundraiser managed to collect around £60, which Karen said she was “grateful for” as it “covered a day’s wage” for her.
Today, Karen has a “big scar” and skin discolouration on the affected area – if she is cold, it often turns “bright red”. She added: “I thought I would be really conscious going on holiday later that year but I thought, well, no one knows me anyway, so I stopped caring.”
However, she admitted that she is now “so wary” when dealing with anything hot, whether it’s making a hot drink or cooking.
“I can’t deal with hot things any more, I can’t bear it,” Karen said. “I’m very careful now… if the kettle has just boiled, I won’t pour it out straight away. I have to wait until there’s no more steam and the water has settled down before I go near it.”
She warned those who use hot water bottles: “Never, ever use them, especially don’t give them to children, they are too dangerous. If you are desperate to use one, just use hot water out the tap but I would never use water from the kettle.
“My husband’s bought me a battery-powered fleece that keeps me warm so I don’t need to use a hot water bottle. Even the nurse at the hospital said that she has a lot of children coming in that have been burnt from the microwavable things you heat up to keep you warm, so you have to be so careful.”
To support Karen, visit her GoFundMe page at: www.gofundme.com/f/my-sister-has-3rd-degree-scald-burns-please-help.