SITTING in the hair salon chair waiting to get her first ever set of blonde highlights, 14-year-old Coco Brown beamed excitedly.
The pretty teen had been treated to the 'salon experience' by her mum, Sammi, 50, as a birthday present - however within an hour of starting the treatment, Coco’s world changed forever.
The schoolgirl was left permanently scarred and in agony as the bleach used in the colouring process caused third degree chemical burns.
It's every mum's nightmare.
The reaction was so severe Coco, later needed treatment at A&E and required intensive surgery and a skin graft, with treatment that could last for many years.
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Now, devastated mum Sammi - who lives in Bromley, Kent with daughters Coco, Tabitha, 18, and businessman husband David, 58 - is speaking out to stress the importance of hairdressers carrying out strand tests.
Teaching assistant Sammi, says: "It’s been an exhausting and emotional rollercoaster - Coco is having good days and bad.
"She's a ‘Swifty’ and as she’s turning 15 later this month she was desperate to match her idol, Taylor Swift.
"Her older sister had had hers done in London back in September too and Coco thought she looked stunning.
"Now she knows she will be permanently scarred because of that hairdresser. It’s something she’s had to accept but for someone of 14, that’s really hard."
'We had no reason to worry'
The nightmare began in May 2024 when Coco was on holiday with her family in Florida.
Sammi says: "Tabitha was competing in the Cheerleading World Championships, and I thought it would be a nice treat for Coco and Tabitha to have their hair done towards the end of the trip.
"Coco had been desperate to have highlights so I finally gave in.
"It was all she could talk about and she was so excited.
"I booked into a salon while away with an experienced hairdresser that we’d all been to before so we didn't think we had any reason to worry and I paid £220 for half a head of highlights for both girls.
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"Coco went first and we even took a little video of her smiling and showing off her ‘before hair’. We had no idea what was to happen next."
The foils were 'smoking'
As Coco’s foils were put in, Sammi and Tabitha went shopping next door.
They popped back to check on Coco, but the second time they returned a little over an hour later, alarm bells started ringing.
Sammi says: "Coco had her head in the sink and the hairdresser looked very upset and was pouring cold water over her, saying she had had some kind of allergic reaction.
"She said that the foils had been smoking and that she’d never seen anything like it in her career.
"I didn’t panic, as at that point Coco seemed OK. I know what a severe allergic reaction looks like, as Coco carries an epi pen for a wasp allergy.
"She was saying her head was stinging a bit and it looked red, but she could breathe fine and there was no swelling or anything."
The hairdresser looked very upset and was pouring cold water over her, saying she had had some kind of allergic reaction.
Mum Sammi Brown
Sammi dashed to a chemist next door and bought antihistamines for her daughter.
Meanwhile, the hairdresser continued to rinse her hair in cold water, and even cold milk.
The family went back to where they were staying and continued to treat Coco’s sore head with antihistamines and aloe vera.
Sammi says: ‘It really didn’t look too bad at all.
"That part of her scalp was red and white – as if it had been irritated – and Coco said it felt sore, but not that it was burning.
"We kept her head out of the sun and she just bravely got on with the last two days of the holiday."
'I couldn't believe it'
It was only when they returned home to the UK and visited their GP five days later that they discovered the shocking truth.
"We showed the doctor, and she said it was a chemical burn, and Coco needed antibiotics. I couldn’t believe it.
"As a mum you immediately feel guilty and wondered if there was anything I could have done sooner.
"But I realised that the burn had already damaged her skin and there was nothing we could have done differently.
"Coco was put on a seven-day course of antibiotics but the wound just wasn't healing.
"It was open, like a sore scab and clumps of hair were now missing.
"She was trying to cover it up with the rest of her hair but it was sticking to it."
Hospital dash
The pair went back to the GP a week later who referred Coco to A&E and later they went to a paediatric burns unit.
Sammi recalls: "Coco has autism so doesn’t like surprises and I’d warned her that the doctors might have to shave off some of her hair.
"She cried at the thought. But that’s exactly what the doctors had to do.
"As the doctors cleaned up the burn, the skin from her scalp literally came away from her head, revealing an orange-sized burn – it was horrific.
"She was crying in pain but also crying because her hair was being shaved off.
"None of us realised just how much damage had been done."
Third degree burns and nerve damage
Doctors discovered Coco had suffered third degree burns and nerve damage.
A day later, as she was washing her daughter’s burn, Sammi discovered that she had suffered a second burn the size of a 50p piece next to the main burn.
After a month, the smaller burn has healed but the first burn was taking longer.
Doctors told the family that Coco would need a skin graft to prevent infection and more scarring.
"My heart sank when I heard the words ‘skin graft’ because I knew what Coco would have to go through," says Sammi.
"But I was also so frustrated that this could all have been avoided if Coco had had a strand test.
"It’s so important and for whatever reason the hairdresser never did it – I don’t know why."
Surgery and a hair transplant
Coco underwent her first surgery last week, with surgeons taking skin from her hip to cover the burn.
Thankfully it was a success - but she may need more surgery in the future.
Sammi says: "We had our first post-op check-up a few days ago and most of the skin graft has taken, but some of it hasn’t.
"The hair will never grow back because the follicles have been damaged so she may need a hair transplant too.
"She’s a smiler and she’s staying positive though, which is great.
"We spent some time talking about her burn this week and she’s named it Burt.
"She’s even started an Instagram and TikTok account called @Coco.and.Burt to document what happens next. It’s already had 60,000 views."
'Could I have done something differently?'
For Sammi, she still struggled with pangs of guilt saying: "As her mother, I keep thinking: ‘Could I have done something differently?
"But I honestly thought it was an allergic reaction and there’s nothing more we could have done once the skin was burnt.
"We’ve started legal proceedings and simply want to warn of the dangers of not having a strand test – it’s so important."
Coco adds: "I was so excited to have highlights but now I will always be bald which makes me sad, and I’m a bit scared of all the surgery I will need.
"My friends have been really worried but thankfully no one has been mean to me or bullied me."
