The humble vacuum cleaner is not an appliance many parents would think was dangerous around children, but one mum has shared a warning after her toddler received burns from her vacuum cleaner.

Jade Bishop shared a post on her Facebook page that went viral after her 16-month-old son, Theo, received blistering burns on his hands. The blisters were diagnosed as four degree burns and were caused by an unexpected culprit.

Ms Bishop, from England, had just finished vacuuming her house with a Dyson vacuum cleaner. Theo had followed her around the house as she vacuumed. When the mum turned off the vacuum and went to unplug it from the wall, her inquisitive toddler turned it back on and had put his thumb in the bristles where they spin rapidly.

Ms Bishop explains how the accident happened in her Facebook post, “So I turn the vacuum off and turn my back to unplug it from the wall, I hear Theo turn it back on, and turn my head to hear him screaming.

“I yank the plug from the wall and he has managed to put his thumb in the bottom of the Dyson where the bristles spin at a crazy speed. I go to him quicker than I ever have to see he’s got a nasty looking burn on his hand!”

Theo was taken straight to hospital, where burn specialists and plastic surgeons explained the toddler’s injury was worse than the mum had realized. The toddler not only has severe burns, but also exposed tendons, requiring skin grafts and surgery so Theo wouldn’t have restricted movement as he grew.

Ms Bishop pleads in her Facebook post, “Please, please, please do not let your children near the vacuum cleaners! After talking with my nurse and her telling me just how common this kind of burn is, it makes you realize that: A) I’m not the world’s worst mom . . . B) We are not the first and we won’t be the last!”

The mum hopes her post will prevent another child hurting their hand like Theo did.