How KFC Gravy Recently Led To The Hospitalization Of A Toddler

A recent take-out dinner went terribly wrong in England when a toddler upended a shockingly hot container of KFC gravy all over herself. The mishap resulted in extensive burns to the child, despite her mother's best efforts to immediately wash the gravy off in the shower, per Liverpool ECHO.

Ella Pau, 21 months, was in the company of adults when the incident occurred after a family friend picked up food from their local KFC, then drove it to the child's home where it was unpacked. "At that point, you'd think it would have cooled down a lot more than it usually would," Ella's mom Jade told the ECHO.

After the gravy spilled all over the then 18-month-old child, Jade rushed her to a cold shower to limit the damage, then to the hospital for treatment. She "never heard screams like it in her life," recalled Jade. The child spent the night in the local burn unit, where she was treated for extensive burns to the face, fingers, legs, and arm. She was discharged the next day, only to return quickly because she'd gone into toxic shock. According to her mother, she had a fever, was "struggling to breathe," and began vomiting not long after discharge. As a result, the child spent the next five nights in the hospital recovering from that complication.

Ella's mother is now on a mission to encourage KFC to heat gravy to lower temperatures to prevent future accidents of this nature. "I said to them if anything comes out of this, I'd like them to assess the temperature that they've got the gravy at and anything they can do to stop the gravy from opening so easily." Ella is doing much better these days, but has "scarring on her legs" and requires daily cream application. No word yet on whether a lawsuit has been filed.

This is not the first such scandal involving KFC gravy. In 2018, a 10-year-old boy was hospitalized with first-degree burns after spilling to-go gravy on his leg, according to the Daily Mail. His mother, Joanne Conway, recalls that the container had been in their possession for a "good five to 10 minutes, and it still burnt his leg, which means, in my opinion, they serve it too hot." Conway adds, "Kyle is not the first customer or employee of KFC to be burnt, and he won't be the last."

For their part, a statement from KFC said, "Safety is our top priority for our guests, so we're really sorry to hear about this, and we're in touch with Jade and Ella to fully understand how this happened and help make it right."