Story By: Buli Liang, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

These images show a tot who needed skin from her head grafted onto her back as she suffered severe burns after a cleaning firm reportedly used caustic soda to clean the ground where she fell.

Eighteen-month-old Qiaoqiao was on a walk with her babysitter in Haishu District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province when she fell down on wet ground which had just been cleaned.

There were no signs warning that the floor had been cleaned with caustic soda and the tot is said to have got up immediately after her fall. The babysitter took her back to her mother, named in reports by her surname Lin, thinking the tot had fallen into water.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

Lin told reporters: “I tried to hug my girl to comfort her but she struggled very hard. We were quite shocked but I didn’t know what had happened to her. A few minutes later Qiaoqiao started crying in pain. We pulled up her clothing and found she had been burnt black.

“We used water to wash her back and my husband said he smelled something chemical. That is when we realised the ‘water’ must have been caustic soda.”

Lin and her husband called the police for help and took Qiaoqiao to Ningbo People Hospital. Doctors confirmed Qiaoqiao’s back had been burned by a chemical liquid and said the only solution was a skin graft using the skin from Qiaoqiao’s head.

The tot was kept in an isolation unit before undergoing the skin graft, which was a success.

Doctors said she would need at least one year to recover from such severe damage to her skin. A nurse told reporters: “When the doctor changed her dressing, it took five adults to hold her down. She struggled so hard because of the pain.”

Police found the cleaning company who carried out the work and they reportedly admitted that they had used caustic soda to clean the floor, saying they did not put any notices nearby.

Mother Lin said: “How can this strong alkali product be used in public places? There are many children playing there every day. It’s very dangerous!”

Qiaoqiao is still undergoing treatment and her parents are yet to reach an agreement with the cleaning company, The case is still being processed.

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