A MUM has praised medics at the Royal Bolton Hospital after her 17-month-old baby accidentally swallowed liquid from an air diffuser.

Lynn Addison’s son Alfie Barlow became unwell minutes after he swallowed part of the fragrance diffuser — the type using wooden sticks — which was on a windowsill in the front room of their home.

Alfie was taken to the Royal Bolton Hopsital, but just before they arrived he started having convulsions and swallowed his tongue.

Ms Addison said: “It was terrifying, I couldn’t believe how quickly he began to slip away from us. I just thought he was a bit tired and didn’t think he had swallowed any but my partner said we needed to take him to hospital.

“We got there with seconds to spare, he was completely out of it.

“We were told to wait outside and then a doctor came and said he was stable, but they had no idea what would happen now.

“It was absolutely devastating, we thought he was slipping away. They let us go and see him but he was just lying there. He woke up for a few seconds but he didn’t even know who we were.”

The bottle and packaging were sent for analysis, as initially doctors did not know what chemicals were in the diffuser.

The hospital lab discovered, with help from the head office of the company which sold the product, that there were 30 different chemicals — some of which were hazardous — in the bottle.

Ms Addison, of Holbeck, Astley, said: “Thankfully the doctors managed to do the right thing and he started to come back to us, but I just keep thinking what would have happened if we hadn’t taken him.

“The staff at Royal Bolton Hospital’s high-dependency unit were amazing. Thanks to them we spent the next few days watching him come back to life.”

Alfie is now safe and well at home and doctors have asked if they can use his story as a case to share with other hospitals.

Ms Addison added: “I want to let others know what happened because I know quite a few people who have these in their home but like me, had no idea how dangerous they are.”