Girl scalds tongue after McDonald's staff mistakenly pours hot water into insulated bottle

An outing to McDonald's ended up in a trip to the hospital for one family, after the couple's three-year-old daughter scalded her tongue on hot water.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Feb 4), former national footballer Ridhuan Muhamad, 41, shared that they had gone to the fast food chain at Ridout Tea Garden in Queensway on Feb 1.

"What was meant to be a normal outing turned into a hospital trip after my daughter was accidentally given boiling hot water instead of cold water like we asked for," he wrote.

He added that upon drinking from the insulated water bottle, his daughter cried in pain, frightened. She also "couldn't eat or drink properly" and is now "traumatised at the sight of her water bottle".

Videos uploaded in the post showed the girl crying, as well as paramedics attending to the child. A woman speaking in the video could be heard telling them that the girl "was just shaking in pain" after drinking from the bottle.

Speaking to AsiaOne, Ridhuan said he had approached the food collection counter and asked a staff member to help fill the bottle with cold water.

"The filling area was not visible, and when the bottle was returned to me, there was no verbal warning. I assumed it contained cold water, as requested," he wrote, adding that "no confirmation was sought" before filling the bottle.

The full-time football coach added that the bottle is an insulated drinking bottle with a straw, and not a vacuum flask.

According to Ridhuan, the staff member had claimed when questioned that he had requested hot water, but later admitted that "she did not hear properly".

"If not because of the staff member's complacency and negligence, this incident could have been avoided," he continued in his reply to AsiaOne.

However, he also acknowledged that as parents, they have a part to play in the accident as they did not check on the bottle's contents before giving it to their daughter.

"Thankfully, she is stable now. But we really hope the outlet takes this seriously and improves checks so this doesn't happen to another child. A small mistake can cause big harm," he said.

In a comment to his post, Ridhuan's wife explained that it was the first time in their four years of being parents that they had allowed strangers to handle their children's belongings.

"But in that rushed moment, with our [elder] daughter crying for water and the other one being fussy and everyone trying to help, we made a decision we normally wouldn't."

She emphasised that the intention was not to shift the blame entirely onto the fast food outlet.

"We never said the outlet was entirely to blame. We acknowledge that we made mistakes too. Accidents happen, even to careful parents."

Ridhuan told AsiaOne that their daughter took close to four days to recover.

"For the first two days, she couldn't drink milk or eat and was constantly asking for ice cubes to be placed on her tongue to ease the pain. Only after three days did she slowly begin drinking again and eating little by little."

He concluded in the post that he had posted about the incident as a warning to others.

"We shared our story in the hope that other parents and outlets will be extra careful so that no other child has to go through what our daughter experienced. Sometimes, the hardest lessons make us more careful moving forward.

"[It's] a painful reminder for parents too — always double-check drinks given to our little ones."

Ridhuan told AsiaOne that the restaurant manager of the outlet had also reached out to check on their daughter's condition. The family was also offered 10 'Be our Guest' cards — presumably for the free redemption of menu items — mailed to their address as a goodwill gesture.

In a response to AsiaOne's queries, a McDonald's spokesperson stated that they are aware of the incident and "take the matter seriously".

"Our preliminary review indicates there was a misunderstanding at the point of service regarding the request for hot or cold water," said the spokesperson, who added that they have reached out to Ridhuan to offer their assistance and support.

"The safety and well-being of our customers is our priority. We are reviewing the incident with the restaurant team to reinforce service procedures and clearer communication, particularly when handling hot items."

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candicecai@asiaone.com

limkewei@asiaone.com