Disney mug taken off sale after lid stuck on girl's tongue

A mother has called on Disney to recall a child's travel mug after her daughter's tongue became wedged in its lid for four hours.

Megan Donald, 7, from Kirkintilloch, Scotland, with mum Natalie, 31, whose tongue got stuck in a Disney Monster Inc cup. Picture: SWNS

Hospital staff were forced to use a hacksaw and a drill to remove the screw-top mug from Megan Donald’s mouth.

The seven-year-old was drinking from the Monsters Inc-branded mug in her class at Harestanes Primary in Kirkintilloch, where her tongue became jammed through its drinking spout. With teachers unable to remove it, Megan’s mother, Natalie, accompanied her to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, where staff gave the youngster a local anaesthetic before cutting off the lid.

The Disney Store said it had withdrawn the mug and similar products from sale, and had destroyed all stock.

Megan Donald's tongue became jammed in the Monsters Inc screw-top cup while she was at school. Picture: SWNS

But Ms Donald warned that other children already using the mug, which she purchased in the Disney Store in Glasgow’s St Enoch shopping centre, could risk injury.

The 31-year-old said Megan was “very upset” and “panicking” after realising she could not get her tongue free.

She said: “It wasn’t even for budging, we couldn’t even unscrew the bottom of the cup because it created some kind of suction.”

Ms Donald said that medics tried unsuccessfully to reduce the swelling around Megan’s tongue with ice and dextrose, before using bolt cutters in an attempt to cut the plastic, again to no avail. Eventually, however, they were able to remove her tongue from the plastic spout.

Megan Donald's tongue became jammed in the Monsters Inc screw-top cup while she was at school. Picture: SWNS

“They used a hacksaw to cut the cup in half. That gave them a lot more mobility. They then used a sort of dentist drill to cut down the middle of the cup to pull it away at the sides and then managed to remove it,” she explained.

“I was so relieved. The tongue was very swollen and bruised when they finally managed to get it off.”

Ms Donald said she wanted to “warn people” about the mugs, adding: “You would never think this was something that could happen. You would never think a cup like that could be a danger.”

A spokesman for Disney Store said it has withdrawn the Monsters Inc mug as well as three other mugs with a similar design.

He said: “This is undoubtedly an unfortunate incident that we’ve taken seriously by immediately stopping sales of the mug from our stores and websites and destroying all other existing stock.”