Boy severely burned by cup that fell from Keurig

Thursday, June 11, 2015
Fresno boy suffers severe burns involving a Keurig system
A two-year-old Fresno boy is recovering from severe burns after an incident with a popular home brewing system.

FRESNO, Calif. -- A two-year-old Fresno boy is recovering from severe burns after an incident with a popular home brewing system.

Wyatt Von Flue is slowly getting better. His parents say he suffered second degree burns over the weekend. The burns left him with large marks and blisters on his chest.

The burns, they say, were caused by a hot drink moments after it was brewed on a home Keurig system.

"Even though he's been a trooper through the whole thing it's just tough to see the open sores and wounds," said Wyatt's father, Nick Von Flue.

Nick and Amber Von Flue say a relative was making hot chocolate for Wyatt and had turned to grab his cup when Wyatt reached for the mug filled with hot water.

"We are grateful that it wasn't as bad as it could've been," Amber said.

She posted about the incident on a local Facebook group called Fresno Mommas. "If I can help prevent it for another kid then that's all I want," she said.

Amber says she's not angry about this, nor does she blame Keurig for the incident. She says she just wants to make sure other parents know the risks of brewing hot drinks, especially when they are in reach of small kids.

"Surprisingly there was a lot of people who weren't aware of the temperature and how it can damage the skin so quickly," she said.

On its webpage Keurig says the 2.0 system, which was used in the incident, brews hot drinks at 192 degrees.

The Von Flues say they don't want money from Keurig, just consideration of design improvements.

"It's as simple as just putting a cover over the front of it to make it to where that's one less thing you have to worry about," Nick said.

"Maybe like a door or something that can be pulled down over it," Amber said. "Just one more extra precaution, one more step to get to it so it's not just an open cup."

Action News reached out to Keurig through several phone calls and emails hoping to get a comment from the company. Keurig has not responded.