Stark warning for parents after toddler's face is badly burnt by piping hot cup of coffee

A mum has put out a stark warning for parents after her toddler suffered serious burns when her hot cup of coffee fell on her face.

Alaya Janjua, aged just one, managed to knock the piping beverage off the side and onto her face. To treat the injuries, she has been left bandaged up and compared to looking like a “teletubby”.

The little one's mum, Simona Belcheva, 22, had made herself her morning coffee and put it on the side while she turned the TV off and set up her daughter Alaya’s highchair. After hearing her scream, she saw what had happened and immediately put her under a cold shower.

Simona and her partner, Danyal Janjua, 22, a full-time biomedical student, rushed Alaya to Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, Luton, Bedfordshire on August 16 - which was the day after her first birthday.

They were then sent to the burns unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, where doctors shaved Alaya’s hair to treat her seven per cent mixed depth scald burns. Alaya stayed in hospital for a week until she was able to head home on August 23.

The toddler is now doing well, and Simona wants to prevent it from happening to other families.

She said: “I left her food and my coffee on the kitchen counter and went to turn off the TV and set up the highchair. I heard a loud bang and her screaming.

“I was only 10 steps away. She had managed to somehow knock over the coffee, and it went on her face. At hospital she was put in a dressing, so all of her burns were covered.

“We were just celebrating her birthday and then she was looking like a Teletubby. It was shocking to see her like that."

Simona hadn’t realised the seriousness of the burn until the hospital sent photos to the burns unit in Chelmsford, Essex, and the couple were told to go there.

She continued: “They shaved her hair so they could tackle all her burns. It was quite scary.”

Her bandages were redressed every three days and doctors had to wash her face and body each time.

Simona added: “She’d be screaming when they did that. It was the worst feeling – I couldn’t help her. It got so swollen at one point she couldn’t open her eyes. All of her face was red and scabby. It looked like she was in a fire.”

Alaya was given antibiotics when she spiked a fever on her second bandage change but was then able to go home on August 23, 2023 – without her bandages. Her parents have to wash her each morning and before bed to get rid of her scabs and keep her well moisturised throughout the day.

The family are raising money for the ward that treated Alaya, such as to help them buy more toys for the children. Visit the official GoFundMe page for further details.