A 14-month-old boy is recovering in a Queensland hospital after inhaling decorative gold cake powder while his mother baked a birthday cake for another child. Dustin “Dusty” Wildman fell unconscious within seconds and needed emergency surgery after the substance blocked his lungs.
Dusty was still in Queensland Children’s Hospital on Thursday, May 14, awake, alert and making progress each day, his family said. He still had a feeding tube because he would not take a bottle yet, and doctors had started asthma therapy as they monitored the damage.
The toddler’s mother, Katie Robinson, said he grabbed the container while she was working on a Bluey-themed cake for a friend’s child. “Within seconds, he had pulled the cap off with his teeth and inhaled and ingested it at the same time,” she said. Robinson described her son as resilient, saying, “He is definitely a fighter.”
The family said the powder turned to paste once it mixed with water, quickly sealing Dusty’s airway. Rochelle Evrard said, “When the dust is mixed with water, it turns to paste — so it immediately blocked Dusty’s lungs. He went unresponsive.” Doctors later said the blockage caused a lung injury serious enough to require surgery to clear the material.
Dusty’s condition has stabilized, but the long road ahead is now the central concern. Robinson said he will likely need physio and probably an occupational therapist, and that doctors believe he will probably carry a lifelong lung injury. “But we’re hoping he proves them wrong,” she said.
The family had set up a GoFundMe to help with the burden of treatment and travel, but it was paused because they were staying at a local Ronald McDonald House while Dusty received care. The fundraiser was meant to support a mother who makes cakes for others; instead, it became part of the effort to keep her son alive after a split-second accident.
For now, the answer to the most pressing question is the one Dusty’s parents are clinging to: the toddler is still improving, but doctors say the inhaled powder may leave permanent damage behind.
