The kettle, the toddler, the pan

You've just made tea. The kettle is still hot on the worktop, the cord hanging over the edge.

You turn around for half a second to grab a mug. Your 2-year-old, who's suddenly taller than she was last week, reaches up.

The cord comes down. The kettle comes with it. A wave of near-boiling water goes down her shoulder, arm, and chest.

She screams. You stop breathing.

Your mother, who's visiting, runs in with butter. Your partner shouts about oil. Somebody says ice. Somebody says toothpaste.

They are all wrong.

The right answer is almost embarrassingly simple — and it has to happen in the next ten seconds.

The rule that changes the outcome: cool, running water — not ice, not iced water — for twenty full minutes. Starting now.