A California toddler will be disabled for the rest of his life after consuming an “excessively sticky” gummy candy, a lawsuit says.
Amelie Paredes Sotelo, now three years old, consumed a Candy Land Gummy Dot last December, which resulted in her being hospitalized.
According to Amelie's parents, who are filing a lawsuit against Frankford Candy & Chocolate Co., the gummy candy became lodged in her throat and blocked her airway.
Even after I was taken to the emergency room, the candy was so sticky that even doctors couldn't easily remove it.
Amelie was deprived of oxygen for so long due to the dangerous candy that she suffered severe permanent brain damage and spastic quadriplegia – which left her completely paralyzed, according to the lawsuit.
A California toddler will be disabled for the rest of his life after consuming an “excessively sticky” gummy candy, a lawsuit says
Amelie Paredes Sotelo, now three years old, consumed a Candy Land Gummy Dot last December, which resulted in her being hospitalized
Her mother, Maria Aylin Sotelo Camacho, had to give up her job at a car repair shop to care for the child full-time.
“She was a thriving, beautiful child who is now incapacitated for the rest of her life,” said the family's attorney, Tom Bosworth.
When Amelie ate the candy, she had been eating solid food regularly for some time – including similar gummy candies.
The Frankford Candy Land Gummy Dots, inspired by the Hasbro board game Candy Land, contained no choking hazard or safety warning.
They are dangerous because of their “extreme stickiness and their inability to adequately decompose with the introduction of human saliva,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, the candy became a “glue-like substance” that had a tendency to “stick to the palate tissue.”
Amelie had only eaten a piece of the candy before she began to gag because it got stuck in her mouth and throat.
Ring camera footage captured the traumatic moment the candy got stuck in Amelie's throat – and filmed the parents desperately trying to get the candy out as their young toddler choked.
Her five-year-old sister and her eight-year-old brother witnessed the stressful incident, the lawsuit states.
Amelie's parents rushed her to the hospital when they couldn't get the candy out.
At the hospital, doctors tried to suction the rubber from her throat, but the process was “extremely difficult because the product is excessively sticky and has an extraordinary lack of flexibility,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit states that the candy was “negligently, recklessly and defectively designed” due to its “composition, mix of ingredients, excessive stickiness, size and shape.”
The Frankford Candy Land Gummy Dots, inspired by the Hasbro board game Candy Land, contained no choking hazard or safety warning
Because Amelie is now disabled, her mother, Maria Aylin Sotelo Camacho (pictured here with Amelie and her two other children), had to give up her job at an auto repair shop to care for the child full-time
“A product like this needs to have some sort of warning on it,” Bosworth said. “When you eat a piece of candy, you don’t necessarily know what the consistency is, how sticky it is, and whether it’s going to be a problem.”
“We will not stop until these candies are either removed from shelves or modified to include a clear, thorough and accurate warning about all of the true dangers of the product, including the choking hazard and a safe age range for consumption,” Bosworth said .
“I would like to have these gummies removed, or if that's not possible, at least get a warning, and a warning big enough for the parents to see, because the packaging can be very deceiving,” said Amelie's mother.
The lawsuit seeks $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. A jury trial was requested.