EXCLUSIVE: Seven year old boy tells Clyde News of his agony after scalding hands on burning charcoal abandoned at Luss beach

A seven-year-old boy from was rushed to hospital after scalding his hands on burning charcoal abandoned on Luss beach.

Callum McSwiggan picked up the coal by mistake when he was collecting stones to throw in the water.

He was taken to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow on Thursday for emergency surgery.

Both his hands are now completely covered in bandages and he has six different types of medications to help with the pain and healing process.

The schoolboy may be scarred for life and faces months of physiotherapy to regain movement in his fingers.

Callum told Clyde News: “My mum was teaching me how to skim stones and I was looking for the right kind of stone when I saw the big pile of black ones.

“As soon as I touched them my hands were burning, it was so painful.

“I was screaming and a man came down with a hose and started pouring it all over me but it wasn’t helping.

“In the hospital one of the nurses was cutting the skin off my hands and the other was trying to put tubes up my nose.

“I feel a lot better now but I can’t do anything and it’s really annoying.”

His mum Carly Lawlor took to social media to warn other parents, her post has been shared more than 2,500 times.

Carly said: “It’s just complete stupidity that someone would think leaving burning charcoals on or beside a beach is a good idea, smaller children than Callum were running about and although his injuries are bad and we don’t know the full extent of what we’re facing, it could have been so much worse.

“We are lucky it was only his hands, he’s a great wee boy and I have no doubt he’ll bounce back from this in no time.

“We will be spending our summer holidays trying to get him as much help as possible and hoping he gets back to normal. We need to wait for it to scar over before we know how much movement he’ll lose.

“It’s hard just now because he can’t do a single thing for himself. He can’t go to the toilet on his own, feed himself or even play, it’s such a shame.

“People need to be more responsible, barbecues are a great idea and good fun but they’re dangerous and need to be disposed of properly.

“This should never have happened.”