An Australian mother is speaking out after a terrifying household accident left her 4-year-old daughter temporarily blind and recovering from multiple surgeries—all caused by a colorful laundry detergent pod that looked a little too much like a toy.

It was March 23 when Jodi de Groot’s daughter, Luca, was helping her with chores—something they’d done together many times. But in a split-second decision that would change everything, Jodi handed Luca a squishy detergent pod, one of those bright, jelly-like capsules sold under the brand Omo in Australia (and known as Persil in the UK).

What happened next was every parent’s worst nightmare.

“She was helping me with the laundry and I gave her the pod just to hold while I loaded the washer,” Jodi told The Mirror. “She’s never tried to bite one before. It’s very out of character.” But this time, Luca gave in to curiosity and bit into the pod. It exploded in her mouth and face, spraying highly concentrated detergent into both of her eyes.

“I heard her scream. She rubbed her face, and that just spread the chemicals. She was hysterical,” Jodi said. In a panic, she rushed Luca into the shower, hoping water would wash away the pain. But nothing seemed to help.

“I checked the packaging, and it only said to ‘seek medical advice,’ so I didn’t think it would be that serious. But she was still screaming. I called the poison hotline, and they told me to take her straight to the hospital.”

Once there, doctors flushed Luca’s eyes several times. But the damage was too severe. She had suffered chemical burns to both eyes and would go on to endure three surgeries over a 16-day hospital stay—including a delicate amniotic membrane transplant, a rare procedure that uses placenta tissue to heal damaged eyes.

“At one point, they thought she’d need a fourth surgery because she wasn’t opening her eyes,” Jodi recalled. “Thankfully, we were able to coax her to open them eventually. But her left eye still isn’t fully healed, and her vision’s not completely back.”

Doctors say the recovery process could take up to a year, and even then, Luca may be left with lasting visual impairment. For now, her eyes are still red, and she continues to attend regular check-ups. The trauma has left its mark not only on her vision, but on her childhood.

“It’s been really hard,” Jodi said. “It’s awful seeing your child in so much pain and not being able to do anything.”

Now she’s urging other parents to rethink how they store and use laundry pods—and calling out manufacturers for what she says are dangerously vague warnings. “They say keep them away from kids, but the packaging just says ‘seek medical advice.’ That doesn’t sound urgent enough. It should say go to a hospital immediately,” Jodi insisted.

“These pods look and smell nice. They’re attractive to kids. I didn’t realize they could do this much damage. I had no idea one little pod could cause burns, blindness, and three surgeries.”

In response to the incident, a spokesperson for Unilever, which makes the detergent in question, told The Mirror: “We were deeply saddened to hear about these injuries and have spoken to Luca’s mother to understand what happened so we can investigate further. Safety is always our number one priority, and our laundry capsules carry child-impeding closures as well as prominent on-pack safety warnings in line with industry guidelines.”

But for Jodi, that’s not enough. She wants clearer, more visible warnings—and more public education on the real dangers of detergent pods. “If I had known,” she said, “I never would have let her near one.”

Let Luca’s story serve as a cautionary reminder: these small, brightly colored capsules may look harmless, even playful, but they are anything but. And when it comes to protecting children, no warning should be too bold.