Steel slide too hot for youngster

The steel slide at Ngaruru Station in the Manawatu was so hot yesterday it scalded the toddler.

A toddler was airlifted to hospital after he suffered burns to his bottom while playing on a steel slide which had become hot in the sun.

The boy was flown to Palmerston North Hospital at midday yesterday from Ngaruru Station, a remote farming settlement northeast of Marton.

Square Trust rescue helicopter pilot Dave Fielding said the accident had happened at the boy's home, and his parents had done all the right things.

"He was stripped bare when we arrived and his parents had put cold water on him."

The toddler was treated and stabilised at the scene by a paramedic before he was flown to hospital.

A hospital spokeswoman told NZPA he had been discharged in the afternoon.

Mr Fielding said it had been a hot day and the boy had probably not been wearing a lot of clothes when he went down the slide.

"I think it's quite topical at this time of year ... Old metal slides can certainly heat up, and this is one of the consequences of kids using them."

- NZPA