A Gold Coast mom has shared a heartwarming update after her toddler fell into a coma following a horror baking incident two weeks ago.
14-month-old Dustin ‘Dusty’ Wildman suffered a life-threatening reaction after inhaling a metallic cake-decorating powder, but is continuing to recover in hospital, with his condition steadily improving.
His mother, Kate Robinson, told news.com.au that while her son is still in Queensland Children’s Hospital after undergoing emergency surgery to clear the substance from his lungs, he is “making progress each day” and is awake, alert, and breathing unaided.
“He is slowly getting his medications reduced,” the 36-year-old baker told news.com.au.
“But he still has the feeding tube as he won’t take a bottle yet, and he has also started asthma therapy.”
She believes the family will “most likely still be here for a little while” as Dusty will need “a lot of monitoring.”
“He will need physio and probably an Occupational Therapist. Doctors are saying he will likely have a lifelong injury to his lungs, but we’re hoping he proves them wrong.
“He is definitely a fighter.”
While Dusty is no longer reliant on breathing support, doctors are still monitoring inflammation in his lungs caused by the material, which solidified into a paste-like substance after being inhaled.
Robinson said he is beginning to regain strength, though his voice is still affected.
“He’s trying to talk but still has a very raspy voice,” she said.
The development comes after the toddler was placed in intensive care after the substance caused severe respiratory distress.
Medical testing later verified that the powder included copper and zinc compounds, raising concerns about product labelling and its positioning next to edible decorating ingredients.
The supplier has since withdrawn the product from sale and instructed retailers to destroy the remaining stock.
The accident occurred when Dusty was playing in the studio of his Logan home while his parents supervised nearby.
“He was just pattering around as he usually does,” Robinson told news.com.au last week.
She had laid out toys to keep him occupied while she put the finishing touches on a Bluey-themed cake for a customer.
But Dusty pulled a tube of lustre dust powder from his mom’s drawer – a product used by bakers to add shimmer to cakes and other baked goods.
“Within seconds, he had pulled the cap off with his teeth and inhaled and ingested it at the same time,” she recounted.
Within moments, he began choking and became distressed, struggling to breathe.
The parents began first aid while calling triple-0 for emergency assistance.
“In the time it took for the ambulance to get there, he was not breathing well. He was grunting, really low, and then trying to take a quick, sharp breath in,” she said.
“His body was flopping around, his eyes were rolling in his head, and he was just getting unresponsive. I was trying to slap his cheeks, call out his name, and he just wasn’t opening his eyes. So [it] got really scary at that point.”
After arriving at the hospital, she was stunned to learn the powder contained copper.
“All the doctors have said this is such a rare case … they haven’t really seen this before. So it’s been a difficult one for everyone,” Robinson shared.
With her son now living proof that the incredibly rare incident can happen, Robinson is using Dusty’s story to issue an emotional plea to parents to educate themselves on ingredients and campaign for inedible powders to be removed from stores.
