Halloween is a fun time for families and crucial to the joy of the proceedings for many young children is picking out a costume and getting dressed up with friends for trick or treating.
Personal safety may not be on everyone's radar when it comes to dressing up, but we can imagine it will be on the mind of Strictly Come Dancing presenter Claudia Winkleman, who tirelessly campaigned to make Halloween costumes safer after her daughter Matilda fell victim to a terrible injury nine years ago.
Claudia, 51, has previously shared details of the terrifying ordeal during her family's Halloween celebrations in 2014. Her daughter Matilda, now 17, whom she shares with husband Kris Thykier, was eight years old when the witch costume she was wearing went up in flames after she brushed against a candle.
© GettySpeaking to Best magazine, Claudia recalled the moment: "She 'went up' is the only way I can describe it – it was a spark and she screamed out for me. It was like those horrific birthday candles that you blow out and they come back. It was really fast. It was definitely life-changing for me."
The mother added: "I was talking to someone and then I heard her shout and she was on fire. It feels like she was on fire for hours, but the surgeon said it was probably just seconds," she said.
The eight-year-old spent three weeks in hospital having suffered serious burns to her legs and the family's neighbour Jamie Poulton was left with second-degree burns after trying to put out the fire with his bare hands.
© GettyJamie told the Daily Mail: "This material just keeps reigniting and re-burning. And it is sticky, so it melts on the skin. It doesn't cinder. It remains hot. It was horrific to be honest. I was trying to put it out with my hand.
He continued: "It was a warm night so I wasn't wearing a jacket. I was trying to roll her and pat her clothes. I was trying to rip the costume off her, which didn't really help because it just ripped and dropped back. It is very bad material. That stuff is terrible. The costumes are very, very cheap to buy. They are nylon and they just go up."
The Strictly presenter has since shared the impact this traumatic experience has had on her mental health. Speaking on How Did We get Here?, the podcast she co-hosts with psychologist Professor Tanya Byron, the mother-of-two said: "You helped me with flashbacks. I had flashbacks of when my daughter had an accident and they come at you like a bull."
© Getty"Like a tsunami, it’s so enormous you think you’re going to drown," she continued. "So you have to shove it to one side."
Since the incident, Claudia has worked tirelessly to campaign for greater safety around the materials used to make Halloween costumes. The presenter successfully managed to get the British Royal Consortium to release voluntary guidelines that state that toys, the umbrella children's costumes come under, are not to be made from fabric that can burn any faster than 10mm per second. This was reduced significantly from 30mm per second.
When this was enacted in 2017, Claudia said, "I’m pleased to hear about the new guidelines. But as they are only voluntary, they are only a first step...I sincerely hope the Government continues to push for these guidelines to be made a legal requirement."
A new safety warning
© GettyNow, nine years on from the accident, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has issued a health warning that aims to protect people from incidents like Claudia's. Shoppers have been told to only buy products that have been tested by members of the British Retail Consortium as they will more likely have stood up to high safety standards.
Items approved by the BRC will have a label sown into them, stating: "This garment has undergone additional safety testing for flammability".
© GettyIn addition, RoSPA pointed out that all elements of the costume such as wigs and face masks should be flame-retardant.
Claudia has kept her daughter Matilda out of the limelight along with her 20-year-old son, Jake. However, the campaigning she has done in light of the terrible ordeal her family suffered will undoubtedly keep many children safe this Halloween.
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