‘My baby son had a heart attack in Birmingham after drinking drain unblocker he thought was milk’

A baby, from Birmingham, had a heart attack, suffered internal burns and lost half his tongue after he accidentally drank household drain cleaner thinking it was milk.

Sam Anwar Alshameri was just 13 months old when he crept behind his mum who was cleaning the bathroom at their flat and drank caustic soda from a white bottle on the floor.

The toddler suffered extreme burns to his airway, lips, mouth and tongue, and 27 doctors and nurses fought to save his life, in May.

He spent two months in intensive care and has been left unable to eat, drink or speak. His lips have almost entirely sealed shut due to his burns, his dad says.

Dad-of-four Nadeen Alshameri, 37, from Highgate, said Sam needs complex surgery and has set up a GoFundMe page to help his family.

The warehouse worker said his wife Mukhtara, 27, was cleaning the bathroom while their four children, aged seven, three, one and eight months, were in the living room.

Sam wandered in behind her without her realising and picked up the bottle she had placed on the floor while unblocking the sink and bath. 

“She didn’t see him behind her,” Nadeen said. “He thought the bottle was milk. By the time we knew what had happened, it was already burning him.” 

Sam ingested the drain cleaner and immediately suffered life-threatening internal burns.  

“When we went to the hospital it was burning his airway and his mouth, he can’t say a word now," Nadeen said. 

“They told me they had never seen it before. They had to find the best doctor because it was the first time this had happened."

Baby Sam was rushed to Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital. While in A&E, he had a heart attack.

"His heart stopped for nearly three minutes," his dad said.

"They brought him back to life and took him to intensive care. I can’t ever forget that moment.” 

Doctors were forced to remove Sam’s feeding tube from his nose and insert a permanent tube directly into his stomach.  

His mouth has begun to seal shut and he now only has a tiny gap left which is too small to swallow food or drink. 

“They can’t see inside his mouth," he said.

"They don’t know what’s happening because every doctor tells me something different."

He says Sam is on a waiting list for urgent reconstructive surgery, with no date confirmed, but is out of hospital and being cared for at home.

“The NHS told me we are in good hands, but nothing is happening," he said.

"They said it could be next week, next month and I just don’t know.

"I can’t wait anymore. My boy is sick.” 

He claims some doctors have said surgery may be possible, while others say it is too early, and some simply don’t know because they’ve never treated a case like his son's before. 

Nadeen wants to take his son to specialists in Germany and Turkey. 

“With rent, food, everything, my wife and I, we are just surviving," he said.

"I can’t save enough for surgery abroad. I need help.

“I’m so worried about my kid. This is my baby. I just want him to be okay.”

To find out more about the fundraising campaign for Sam go to: www.gofundme.com/f/im-looking-for-rise-money-for-my-son-operation-medication