A Massachusetts mother claims she, her husband and their 8-year-old daughter became ill after trying to prepare food in an Easy-Bake oven.
On Monday, a TikTok user named Stephanie, who goes by steph_murphy on the app, posted a video explaining how a family of three ended up in the hospital over the weekend.
In the video, which is just over 5 minutes long, the woman says the three “were all admitted to the ER on Saturday because of the Easy-Bake oven.”
“Hasbro takes all product safety issues seriously. Hasbro Easy Bake ovens meet or exceed all applicable safety standards. If consumers have any questions or concerns about their products, we encourage them to contact Hasbro Consumer Care at 1-800-255-5516 ,” Hasbro, the toy’s maker, said in a statement to PEOPLE.
According to Stephanie, she was in another room of the home when her husband, Ryan, and their daughter, Nora, took the brand new toy out of its packaging and began making a two-tier red velvet cake.
Easy Bake Oven: Nostalgia for mom, fun for kids
As soon as they turned on the oven, Nora reportedly thought she smelled something strange, but Ryan assumed it was just because the oven was made of plastic. However, Stephanie noted that Ryan had previously lost the ability to taste and smell properly “for three years” due to COVID.
Since the dessert had to be baked layer by layer, according to Stephanie, Ryan and Nora joined her in their living room to play the game.
About 16-20 minutes later, Ryan and Nora went to take the first batch of cake out of the Easy-Bake oven “and realized it still wasn’t fully baked,” so they gave up on baking altogether and unplugged the oven.
“Nobody ate it, they threw it away,” Stephanie said.
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Soon after, Nora began “complaining of chest pains.” At that point, “approximately 45 minutes” had passed since the father and daughter first turned on the product.
Since the family was already relaxed, sitting in their living room, Stephanie suggested they just monitor the situation and “see what happens.”
After the child reportedly said she was “having trouble breathing,” her mother used a pulse oximeter to check her vital signs.
She says Nora’s reading showed “89,” which is “very low,” so the family went to the emergency room. While en route, Ryan also began complaining of “difficulty breathing,” Stephanie said.
The three were eventually seen and doctors reportedly “presumed it was carbon monoxide poisoning” since all the family’s symptoms occurred within an hour.
Stock image of a heart rate monitor.
Getty
Stephanie said the fire department was sent to their home to check for lead, carbon monoxide and mold, but by then it had been eight hours since the Easy-Bake oven had been unplugged.
After her parents left the hospital early Sunday morning, Nora was transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital. On Sunday around 4 pm, she went home.
Stephanie said she recovered more quickly than Ryan and Nora, possibly because she wasn’t in the kitchen while the two were baking — adding that her husband and child were prescribed steroids for five days and had to take an inhaler every four hours.
Stephanie reiterated that they had never eaten the product.
“If we had baked a second cake, then we would have been exposed to it for another 20 minutes. What would happen then?” asked the mother.
“And what would have happened if we hadn’t taken my daughter seriously when she said she had trouble breathing?”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education