Editor’s Note: Saucon Source attempted to contact local police for additional information about this incident. As of this letter’s publication a response had not been received.
On Monday evening my 14-year-old, his best friend and a teenaged girl, all SVHS students, were in the woods by the creek near the High Street bridge. The other boy picked up a plastic bottle similar to a peroxide bottle and handed it to my son. My son tossed it in the air. He says there simply was no thought involved. He figured it had rain water in it. He planned to just get sprinkled and keep on walking. The contents splashed down on his face and clothes. His face was burning instantly and the substance burned holes through his clothing. The other two kids led him to the creek to rinse his face with water. They called 911 and led him home with his eyes closed.
I was home alone with my 7-year-old and premature newborn. The girl who had been with them ran home and the boys came in. I thought I’d pass out when I saw him. I thought he was surely blind. The ambulance arrived minutes later. The police followed and they and the Hazmat team assessed the scene in the woods. They found the bottle.
My son was treated and released that night from Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. He was seen yesterday at the burn recovery center and will continue his care as an outpatient there. His vision is thankfully intact. The bottle contents were determined to have a pH of 1–pure acid. A police officer told me they strongly suspect the kids came upon the dumping area for a home meth lab and that the bottle contained the byproduct of meth production.
My son’s face may never be the same. He has pain. The treatment for his burns will be long. As of now he is out of school indefinitely because of the risk of infection and will have homebound instruction. I must apply ointment to his burns every hour. The acid is causing necrosis and it will be a couple weeks until we know the final damage and the treatment plan and scar treatment can be plotted.
I know this is an unpleasant story. I ask you to share it anyway–to ask parents to talk to their kids about never touching anything they find. I want everyone to know and to put pressure on our local police to clean up the meth problem in our town. My 14-year-old now wears the evidence of this drug problem on his face. As a mom I am heartbroken for him and very angry at the derelict that dumped this stuff around the corner from my neighborhood.
Christina Reilley
Hellertown
