A SCHOOLBOY was left fighting for life after gulping down "lemonade" – only to find the bottle contained caustic soda crystals.
PANIC: Doctors told the family things didn't look good for Sonny
Little Sonny Arthur, six, started violently vomiting after swallowing the soda dissolved by his mum so she could clean the shower.
Horrified mum Vikki Arthur said it was the "most horrific" vomiting she had ever seen, as Sonny's mouth started to swell.
Sonny is now being fed through a tube because of scarring to his oesophagus after spending three days in intensive care battling to survive.
Mrs Arthur, from Hatfield Peverel, Essex, said: "We we were having dinner and messing around. We heard this almighty scream and Sonny came running down from upstairs," she said.
"We thought he had hit his face because his mouth was starting to swell up.
HEARTBREAKING: Little Sonny Arthur in bed at hospital
"He went to drink some water and he looked at us, then he started vomiting.
"It was the most horrific vomiting I have ever seen. It will haunt me for the rest of my life."
Mrs Arthur had thrown away the solution after finishing the cleaning, but Sonny mistook it for lemonage and the crystals left in the bottom had devastating effects.
She told husband Ian, 53, not to use the bathroom and left the bottle in the shower unit.
However, he misunderstood and moved the bottle to the side when he had a shower.
SMILING: Sonny with his mum before the accident
Sonny was rushed to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford before being transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
His mum said: "They [doctors] said 'Just to warn you, this is bad'. It was almost like they were trying to prepare us for the worst."
With medics unable to neutralise the acid, fumes got into Sonny's lungs, leaving him struggling to breathe.
The effects will be lifelong and Sonny has to go back to the hospital every two weeks to have his oesophagus stretched.
Mrs Arthur added: "It's hard to determine how much scarring there is because they can't get a camera down there.
"It's going to be a long, slow journey. He's a tough little kid. He's so brave."
She plans to raise £12,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital as her family have spent 16 years visiting the hospital because daughter Abbie was born with craniosynostosis – a rare genetic condition which stops one side of the head from forming properly in the womb.
Mrs Arthur plans to take part in several gruelling races this year, including a run around two New Zealand islands ending in a 100-mile race.
To donate, visit justgiving.com/teams/SonnyandAbbie ArthurGOSHfund.
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