Two-year-old Bella Davey-Lawrence has suffered the most horrific burns, leaving her mum Natasha Davey shocked -and keen to warn other mums of the dangers that lurk inside the home.

 

Staying at her father's house with brother Curtis (9) and sister Rebecca (3), little Bella from Devon got stuck behind a radiator while playing. 

 

The incident happened in January, but now mum Natasha Davey has released the shocking images of her child's burns in a bid to warn other parents of the danger. 

 

Natasha was at her boyfriend's house when it occured, and was horrified when she found out about her daughter's shocking injuries. 

 

 

"I woke up to find 10 missed calls from my girls' dad saying Bella had been burned and I needed to get round there," she said.

 

By the time she arrived, Bella was being treated by paramedics.

 

"Bella was in a towel so I didn't get to see her burns," she said. "I had no idea what had happened and there was no time to ask."

 

"We were walked to a helicopter. I was strapped to a stretcher and Bella was strapped to me. She got a bit upset as we got in the air ambulance but before that she seemed fine and I assumed she'd had medication for the pain."

 

The pair were flown to the burns unit at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, where doctors assessed her burns, but Natasha couldn't tell them what had happened. 

 

 

"The doctors kept asking me questions I couldn't answer as I hadn't been there so they rang Bella's dad," she said.

 

"Then they told me there had been a leak in the girls' bedroom and their dad had put a plug-in radiator in there to dry it out."

 

"It was at the foot of the bed, and there was a gap between the bed and radiator that Bella had got into."

 

"My ex was in the kitchen and the girls' bedroom door was closed so he didn't know what was happening until he heard screaming.

 

"We have no idea what happened in the bedroom - if she'd fallen off her bed and landed in the gap or climbed down and then got burnt."

 

After squeezing in the gap between the bed and radiator, little Bella sustained second degree burns covering  10% of her body, including on her back, buttocks, elbows and left calf.

 

Doctors performed a skin graft, taking skin from her thigh to cover the wounds.

 

 

"She was taken in to theatre four times to clean her burns, stop infection and cover them with a skin graft from her thigh," she said.

 

In pain every day, Bella would get angry with the doctors and nurses who came to change her dressings and give her injections.

 

"One day, five consultants came in and she said to them 'go away, I don't like you.'"

 

Bella suffered with nightmares during her stay in hospital, often waking up in floods of tears. 

 

Luckily, she has a lot of support. Her little sister Rebecca came to visit her on her fourth day in hospital - although it was a bit of a shock for the tot.

 

"She was excited at first, but when she saw Bella with feeding tubes I think she was shocked and worried about her."

 

Bella was in hospital for eight days, and left to go home "bandaged up like a mummy."

 

 

For two weeks, a nurse visited the family home to check on Bella, but, happy with how her mum is handling things, they have since stopped.

 

"Bella doesn't have any bandages now but she has a medical plaster on her buttocks as, because of her nappy, she's having trouble healing there.

 

"She complains sometimes that the burns hurt, but otherwise she's doing well and is now back at playgroup."

 

A few weeks ago, Bella was measured for a pressure garment to help her skin graft heal flat and was told to pick three designs as, if she gets on well with her first garment, she'll receive two more.

 

Natasha said: "Bella has been wearing her first pressure garment since March 8.

 

"She asked for it to be purple with Frozen's Anna and Elsa on it.

 

 

"The other two she'll receive if she gets on okay with this garment are green camouflage with a Snow White design and a red one."

 

Bella will need to wear the garments day and night for two years.

 

"As she grows, she'll get fitted for more garments and will receive three at a time."

 

Natasha was given a camp bed to sleep on whilst her daughter was in hospital, and now she has set up a Go Fund Me page to "give something back" to the hospital.

 

"As an adult, it was hard being on the children's burns ward. I saw children not as bad as Bella, and a lot worse. The screaming you hear from them while doctors and nurses are seeing them was horrifiic."

 

"How the doctors and nurses go in every day and cope was beyond me. They looked after Bella and I wanted to give something back to them to say thank you."

 

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