My son Peyton is 9 years old. On June 24th, his shoes got wet after playing with water at school. He was wearing socks. That night, he came home and told me his feet were hurting.
When I checked, his feet looked red, but I thought they were just cold. The next day, after playing outside, he said his feet were burning badly. I looked again, and they were much redder, had blisters, and he was in a lot of pain.
I called the doctor the next morning. Peyton’s pediatrician sent us to a foot specialist, who asked a lot of questions. One important clue was that his light-up shoes had stopped working, which helped them figure out the shoes caused the burns.
Peyton got second-degree chemical burns from his Skechers light-up shoes. When the shoes get wet, the batteries can leak chemicals that burn the skin. Our doctor had seen a similar case once before.
My son is really strong and brave. It was the first day of summer break, but now he has to keep his feet wrapped and can’t play with his friends or brothers.
The doctor said we need to treat the burns for about three weeks using Silvadene cream, and starting tomorrow, he’ll also take steroids for two weeks.
I had no idea something like this could happen. These are kids’ shoes! We live in New York, and my husband and I have nine children in total.
We’ve always bought Skechers and never had any problems until now. This particular pair was called ‘Rayz,’ and they had an on/off switch for the lights.
If you’re buying these shoes for your kids, I recommend not letting them get wet or play in puddles. Kids love the lights, but please be careful. We realized the burns were connected to the shoes when the lights stopped working.
This story was shared by Sherry Foster from New York. Please share it on Facebook and Twitter to help other parents be aware and prepared.