Boy scalded by hot chocolate on Ryanair flight settles case for €20,000

A judge has approved a €20,000 damages settlement for a 12-year-old who suffered scald wounds to his right upper thigh during a Ryanair flight.

Barrister David Richardson told the Circuit Civil Court that hot chocolate was spilled on Reece Kelly’s leg during a flight to Marbella, Spain.

“Reece, who is now 15, was wearing shorts at the time and took the full brunt of the hot spillage,” he told Judge John O’Connor.

He said Reece’s mother, Lynne Kelly, of Sheelin Hill, Ballybrack, Co Dublin, did not feel the first aid kit used to treat her son’s burns during the flight was appropriate for the type of injury he had suffered.

However, a health care professional on the flight made himself known to the family and assisted Reece until the aircraft landed, at which point the boy was brought to an airport medical centre.

His injuried were covered with burn cream and dressed and he was given pain relief before being transferred to a medical clinic where it was decided that no further immediate intervention was necessary.

Mr Richardson told the court a carton of hot chocolate was placed on Reece’s seat table by a flight attendant. When Reece lifted it to take a drink, the lid popped off and the contents spilled on him.

Judge O’Connor said Reece had made a full recovery without permanent scarring and he approved the Ryanair settlement offer of €20,000 compensation and Circuit Court costs.