Young mums severe sunburn scare after faulty sunscreen

A Melbourne mum may have to have skin grafts after what she said was a severe sunburn caused by faulty sunblock.

Taryn Hawken who has multiple sclerosis, went to an event with friends last month and spent most of the day in the sun.

The nineteen year old claims that she applied Banana Boat Sport SPF 30 Sunblock 45 minutes before she arrived and replied it “Every hour on the hour”.

But on the way home from the event her skin began to hurt. By the following morning she was in severe pain and her skin was blistering.

The sunburn triggered an MS attack which caused double vision in one eye and weakness in her right leg.

Hospital staff told Hawken that her sunburn is the worst they have seen.

Hawken told News.com.au that her severe sunburn is making it very difficult to care for her 11-month-old.

“It near impossible for me to care for him,” she said.

“I’m emotionally scarred and physically scarred. I’m in so much pain that I can barely move.”

taryn

Banana Boat Australia spokeswoman Rachel Pullicino told News.com.au that the company is investigating Ms Hawken’s complaint.

However, she says that in previous investigations there haven’t been any quality issues with the products tested.

“We want to reassure our consumers that we are confident that all Banana Boat sunscreen products labelled with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) offer the stated level of SPF if stored and applied as directed on the label,” she said.

“It’s important to follow our product label instructions: always store sunscreen in accordance with its labels, use only as directed and reapply frequently as directed.

“We also always recommend, as listed on our product labels, that our customers avoid prolonged exposure to the sun and always wear protective clothing, hats and eyewear.”

OUCH! I hope she heals quickly.

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Image via News.com.au

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15 Comments

- - mom113991 said
  - 30 Apr 2016
    11:41 pm
this is so scary! ouch!

- - mom81879 said
  - 27 Apr 2016
    8:25 am
Oh no, that looks so painful! All the experts say, to feel sun safe, 1) apply sunscreen, 2) wear clothes and a hat to cover up, 3) wear sunglasses and 4) keep out of the sun during 10-3 to avoid the sun at its worst. So even if she did apply this sunscreen, if she didn’t do the other things, I guess she should expect some damage.

- - BellaB said
  - 17 Apr 2016
    10:23 pm
This is certainly awful, whatever the cause.

- - aprilb1 said
  - 13 Apr 2016
    9:54 pm
Ouch, if she’s telling the truth i hope banana boat provide her some sort of assistance

- - Nas01 said
  - 12 Apr 2016
    11:02 am
It looks do painful. Hope she makes full recovery.

- - june11 said
  - 09 Apr 2016
    6:13 pm
For the benefit of people who unfortunately get sunburnt Aloe Vera spray or gel relieves the pain and reduces the redness. Te moisture in it also helps to prevent your skin from drying out too much and peeling if you apply it soon enough.

- - curlytops said
  - 05 Apr 2016
    10:07 pm
poor lady that looks so sore.

- - mom175496 said
  - 05 Mar 2016
    3:15 pm
This has happened to our family with this same sunscreen both Bay and sport spf 50 types. It’s a disgraceful product which left me very burnt one summer and blistered our toddler severely summer of 2014/15 requiring medical attention and dressings etc. There has been another lady on Facebook who shared her story with this same sunscreen so despite banana boats claim that it passed testing I call bs because too many people commented the same complaint.
We switched to Coles brand and applied same way so hourly and min 20mins prior to initial sun exposure and never have had the same issues.
Seeing my boy particularly was horrific and the shame in which was felt because others would stare at you like we were negligent parents letting him burn so much. The blisters were down his forearms, and ears, one on his cheek.

- - mom175437 said
  - 05 Mar 2016
    7:57 am
We are a family of seven – new bottle of banana boat 50 kids – applied every hour with 20 min wait before going into water – all of the kids plus my self blistered after only five hours in the afternoon sun – ( my wife got badly burnt as well ) never trusting banana boat again

- - mom90758 said
  - 04 Mar 2016
    5:10 pm
Oh! That’s really a terrible sunburn!! And after applying the sunscreen so often during the day?

- - Mummytoabeautifulprincess said
  - 04 Mar 2016
    4:45 pm
Oh my gosh, that is SO horrible. I have also heard other cases of Banana Boat not working and also experiencing it with my 3.5yo daughter. We use Cancer Council now but its hard to know what’s what anymore

- - Mum to one said
  - 04 Mar 2016
    2:26 pm
Oh my goodness that is horrible!! I hope she heals quickly!

- - Lizbef said
  - 04 Mar 2016
    1:27 pm
Seems that there have been a few cases of banana boat not working properly and people getting burnt because of it.
- june11 replied
  
  04 Mar 2016 , 10:24 pm
  I know a child the same thing happened to. It was a new container and still had a long use by date on it. I was used on both children but only one had a reaction. He is allergic to Banana Boat. His wasn’t sunburn just red as red. It didn’t peel. Where he had extra to cover the tips of his ears in case his hat came off was the worst. Hers didn’t show until the next morning. They took him to the Dr.who told them how to treat it. It was gone within 48 hours.
- - mom74640 said
  - 04 Mar 2016
    11:10 am
Lke jw