In case you thought the worst thing that could happen when using an Easy-Bake Oven was that you’d end up with an inedible mess you’d have to pretend to like so as to not hurt your child’s feelings, Stephanie Murphy’s harrowing story will probably leave you rethinking letting one live in your home, let alone in your child’s bedroom.

@steph_murphy

My husband, 8 year old daughter and myself all got admitted to the ER on saturday because of an Easy Bake Oven. Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, chills, and nauseau. Nothing on Google showed anything similar, so was this a one off or have there been others? It was scary that we all got affected so quickly.

♬ original sound - Stephanie

Murphy took to TikTok earlier this week to share her fairly disturbing story about how she, her husband and her daughter ended up in hospital thanks to an Easy-Bake Oven. Murphy’s husband and daughter were using the oven for the first time while Murphy was packing, and as soon as they plugged it in, her daughter noticed that it smelled weird. Dad assumed that was because the toy is made of plastic but also hasn’t been able to smell anything for three years since contracting COVID, so he’s probably not the best judge.

The smell, however, did go away, so they started making a red velvet cake. As one layer was cooking, they were in the other room playing a video game. Twenty minutes later, they checked on the cake and noticed it hadn’t cooked, which is when they gave up and unplugged the oven.

Forty-five minutes later, Murphy’s daughter started complaining of chest pain and then breathing troubles, prompting her mom to check her oxygen, which was very low. On the way to the ER, Murphy’s husband also mentioned having difficulty breathing, and once they arrived at the hospital, Murphy felt short of breath too. Their daughter was admitted, followed by dad while Murphy was triaged, the only one not to need oxygen. The doctors were puzzled and assumed it was carbon-monoxide poisoning because few other things would explain all of them getting sick at the same time.

Murphy’s husband was ultimately discharged while their daughter was transferred to a children’s hospital where she began improving.

They haven’t been able to identify a defect within the product yet, but Murphy asked TikTok if they had heard of similar cases. She’s hoping to learn more since her husband and child are on steroids and relying on inhalers to help them breathe. Countless commenters have encouraged her to speak to a lawyer.

In the meantime, if you have a child, maybe now is the time to teach them how to use a normal oven — with supervision, of course.