A child almost choked to death when an "early learning" toy broke, the Circuit Civil Court heard yesterday.
At the age of seven months, the little boy succeeded in dislodging a plastic hook from the toy, made up of a string of farm animals, which "fish-hooked" his tonsil, his mother told the court.
Mr Timothy Sheehin, counsel for Daniel McEvoy, told Judge Elizabeth Dunne the boy would have died but for the expertise of a nurse who lived around the corner from the McEvoy home at Foxborough Park, Lucan, Co Dublin. "Daniel was choking and his lips had turned blue before the arrival of the nurse," Mr Sheehin said.
He told the court the early learning apparatus could be hung across a baby's chair or cot and was known as "Old McDonald's Mobile". It had been bought from the Early Learning Centre (ELC), in Henry Street, Dublin, one of the sales outlets of John Menzies (UK) Ltd, London.
Mr Sheehin said the mobile incorporated four plastic hangers carrying padded pouches with animal shapes such as cows, pigs and sheep which squeaked or rustled when squeezed. One of the plastic hangers, each of which had a hooked end, had come loose.
Daniel had put it in his mouth and it had partially gone down his throat, "fish-hooking" his tonsils.
His mother, Jemma, and neighbours had been unable to get it out. "He was rushed to hospital where surgery had to be carried out to remove the hook," Mr Sheehin said.
Surgeons had to cut around the muscles and ligaments of Daniel's tonsil.
Mr Sheehin said Daniel, although now seven years old, still had to chew it for much longer than another child would. He had otherwise made a good recovery.
The judge approved a settlement of €12,500 from John Menzies (UK) Ltd, trading as ELC.
The ELC has said it no longer stocks the toy cited in the case, writes Olivia Kelly. An ELC spokeswoman from the head office at Swindon, England, said the toy had not been stocked in any of their outlets for some time before the incident. "We change our ranges fairly regularly and that particular toy had already been phased out. It is absolutely not available now," she said.