Terrified boy, 4, almost blinded when bungling doctor glued his eye shut while treating minor cut on his forehead
Little Jay Watson was left screaming in terror as surgical glue dripped into his eye and sealed it shut for five days
A FOUR-year-old boy was left screaming in terror after a bungling doctor glued his eye shut by mistake while treating a minor cut on his forehead.
Little Jay Watson gashed his head in a play area of a garden centre on a day out with his older brother Jordan, 11, and their gran Jayne Gilder.
The youngster, from Studley, Warks, was taken to hospital after a 3cm (one inch) cut above his right eye would not stop bleeding.
A doctor used medical glue to seal the wound, but accidentally dripped the powerful sealant into Jay's eye at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcs.
Medics apologised for the mistake and told his family his eye should open by itself within a few hours.
But it was five days before Jay was able to blink again when the glue finally dissolved.
His family have blasted the hospital for the blunder, saying Jay - currently being assessed for Asperger's syndrome - has been left "traumatised" by his ordeal.
Gran Jayne, 59, said: "It wasn't a big cut but it was deep and it wouldn't stop bleeding.
"We were sat in the hospital waiting room as Jay was good as gold.
"But then we were called in and a young doctor squeezed the tube of glue on the cut to close it, but he pressed too hard and the glue ran down Jay's face into his eye.
"The next thing we knew, his eye wouldn't open.
"The doctor got a tube of saline solution to try and wash the glue out, but it didn't budge.
"The whole thing should have been over and done with in ten minutes. Why they didn't put an eye patch or something to protect his eye, I don't know.
"What amazed us even more was the fact that the doctor told us it wasn't the first time this had happened. It was like he was proud of it.
"The stress that child went through to try to and open his eye is unbelievable. He screamed the hospital down, all because of incompetence.
"He came out looking like he had been in a war zone. He left looking worse than what he did when he was admitted.
"What's worse is that the doctor told us to go home and that Jay's eye would open by itself.
"That night, he didn't sleep a wink and he was in agony.
"We decided to take him back to the Alexandra Hospital where they told us we had two options, to force his eye open or to wait for it to loosen in due course.
"Jo couldn't face another night like that, so we agreed to try and get the eye to open.
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"It was so traumatic for him. I was holding his legs, his mum was holding his arms and a nurse had hold of his head, while the doctor tried to prise his eye open.
"He was screaming the place down. It was a horrific scream."
After another restless sleep, Jayne and Jo took him to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital for a second opinion, but the family were again told it was a matter of waiting for the glue to slacken.
Jayne, of Crabbs Cross, Worcs, said: "We were told it was just a waiting game.
"We took him home and he was walking round with both of his eyes closed because it was less painful for him.
"The only relief he had was when we put a cold compress on his eye.
"It wasn't until the Monday that his eye eventually opened.
"He was in excruciating pain. The whole thing could have been avoided so easily and that's what his mum is annoyed about the most."
Jay's mum Jo, 36, a mental health coordinator who lives with her husband Michael, 35, and their children, said: "I couldn't fault the hospital's aftercare, but it shouldn't happen in the first place.
"It was a nightmare because it was so sore. He couldn't open his eye and the glue was scratching.
"If it has happened before already, something should have been done to fix it so it doesn't happen again."
The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We are concerned when a patient's experience doesn't match the high standards we set for ourselves, however we are unable to discuss individual cases."
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