Calgary boy seriously burned by hot Tim Hortons tea has father looking for answers

A Calgary father is asking Tim Hortons to turn down the heat after his three-year-old son was seriously burned by very hot tea in hopes that it doesn't happen to anyone else.

"His screams were horrible," Adam Dreece said with tears in his eyes while describing the moment hot tea spilled on his son, Nathan.

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He and his two sons were at the Tim Hortons on 16th Avenue N.W. in the city Wednesday morning when a large cup of tea was knocked over onto the toddler. Dreece says he thinks it happened when he had his back turned momentarily.

"His skin — that outer layer of skin — was like wet tissue paper. There were just all these little folds," he said.

Dreece said other customers and staff tried to help.

"One having a bucket of water, others having a fistful of ice, some people having napkins."

But when the scene became chaotic, Dreece asked the crowd to back off and they rushed the boy to the nearby Alberta Children's Hospital.

"Thankfully there was no queue," he said.

"The triage nurse took Nathan from me and we went straight into emergency.… One of the nurses kept remarking on she's never seen such a short amount of time between somebody having a burn and being here and that was going to make a big difference."

The boy suffered serious burns to his thighs, left arm and stomach and Dreece has sent a complaint to Tim Hortons.

"If he'd been wearing shorts like his brother, I can't imagine what would have happened," the father said.

"Accidents happen but I can't believe that the tea needed to be that scalding hot."

He also says there should be staff trained in first aid working in each restaurant.

Tim Hortons said in a statement they are aware of the incident and are reviewing the matter further with the restaurant owner.

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