My last year of high school, I left some industrial cleaner sitting on my kitchen counter. My little sister had a friend over, about seven at the time, and she poured some of it into her chocolate milk without knowing what it was.
Later that day, the friend came down with horrible stomach cramps. I let my family know and we debated whether or not to talk her to the hospital. Her parents were at a play and we wouldn't be able to reach them for another two hours. It took us forty-five minutes to realize that the cleaner had been left out and tampered with.
We called poison control and drove to the hospital. The doctors took her in to have her stomach pumped but said there might have been intestinal and lung irritation that could be causing internal bleeding. They asked me what the cleaner was. None of the rest of my family could remember. I told them it was a tile-cleaner.
But it wasn't a tile-cleaner. We didn't even realize until we returned later. It was for glass ware, which was more corrosive and would have required separate treatments. That girl didn't survive.
It took me a long time to come to terms with that. I left that cleaner out. I couldn't remember what it was in time. My misinformation and carelessness may have cost that little seven-year-old her life. I guess you could call that one a truly epic fail.