Keep an eye on your beach fires!

Wednesday 17 July 2019

The mum of a four-year-old who was left crawling and on antibiotics after stepping on a beach fire is urging people to pay more attention.

Georgia Tyson, four, was walking along with her dad when she realised she had trodden on something painful in the sand.

The States has also issued a message not to light fires on beaches, and to take extra care in putting out beach barbecues after the young girl was admitted to hospital with 11 blisters as a result of her injuries. 

Georgia was walking along Grandes Rocques beach with her Dad on 22 June when she sustained the injuries thought to be a result of improperly distinguished embers from either a small fire or BBQ. 

Despite attending A&E that evening the sores became infected and later had to be treated with antibiotics - it was several days before Georgia could walk again. 

"The blisters just got bigger and bigger," said her mum, Rachel Tyson.

"She had to crawl to get around."

Environment Services Officer for Agricultural Land Management Services, Jan Dockerill, said these occurrences were not common but it was a good opportunity to remind beach users of the potential dangers. 

"They take place very rarely, we had a comment sent in by Georgia's mum Rachel and she was concerned that we should try and step in, it's a common sense approach though," she said. 

Pictured: Georgia's foot in recovery. 

The official advice is not to light unnecessary fires on the beach, for BBQs to be lit below the tide line and for embers to be disposed of in the public bins once doused with water and sand to cool down. 

"We're just asking people to take greater care," she said. 

Pictured top: Georgia's foot after she stepped on the suspected embers at Grandes Rocques.