It was very hot tea. But after it spilled on her legs, one Richmond Hill woman says she received some cold treatment.

Nancy Ceci stopped in at the Tim Hortons at King Rd. and Yonge St. last month to study with her boyfriend. He stood up, jostled the table and in a split second, the extra-large tea was all over her bare legs.

Now, the 22-year-old York University student, who has daily appointments at a burn clinic, can’t expose her legs to sunlight for a whole year.

When she called to complain about how the Timmy’s employees treated her, she says the company rebuffed her.

“Tim Hortons isn’t doing anything. Nothing. They’ve just wiped their hands of it. They’ve said they’re not responsible and ‘We’re not helping you,’” she told the Star.

Tim Hortons says they are still looking into the incident.

“We are very empathetic to Ms. Ceci’s situation and we are treating it very seriously with both care and compassion for the injuries that she has sustained,” wrote Tim Hortons spokesperson Michelle Robichaud in an email.

After conducting a week-long investigation, Ceci says the head office called her back and offered her a $50 gift card if she agreed to not go to the media with her story.

“I’m not going to sell my legs for $50,” said Ceci.

Tim Hortons contests parts of Ceci’s story and says their investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“When Ms. Ceci contacted us, we immediately launched an internal investigation and opened an insurance claim on her behalf. At that time, she was offered a Tim Card as a gesture of goodwill while our investigation process unfolds and with no strings attached,” she said.

While the infamous McDonald’s coffee burn lawsuit of the 1990s immediately springs to mind, legal experts say that even if Ceci sued Tim Hortons and won, there wouldn’t be a big payout.

There’s a cap on damages for pain and suffering in Canada, said Darcy Merkur, a Toronto tort lawyer who does personal injury work, and punitive damages against corporations have been reduced by the Supreme Court.

“Canadians are more practically minded,” Merkur said. “We don’t have wacky jury awards like the United States.”

Ceci remembers opening the top of the hot tea and thinking it was too hot to drink right before her boyfriend knocked the table and sent it onto her lap.

“I didn’t even feel it right away. I didn’t even process what was going on,” said Ceci, who ran to the washroom but says she was stopped at the door by employees who were cleaning it.

“They’re like, ‘Oh no, you can’t come in here,’ and I’m like, ‘What do I do? My legs are burning!’ I was panicking,” she said.

She tried to blot the burns with paper towel, but her skin started coming off.

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“It was the most disgusting, traumatizing thing. My skin just wiped off like it was wet paper,” she said.

Ceci says she cried her way to her car, where concerned customers came out with cups of ice before she sped off to the Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket. There, she was diagnosed with second-degree burns on her upper thighs.

“Our Team Members were not immediately made aware that this guest was in distress when she initially indicated that she wanted to use the restroom while it was being cleaned,” wrote Tim Hortons’ Robichaud. “However, we understand that she was provided access when her situation was explained.”

Weeks after the incident and Ceci is only starting to return to work. She hasn’t been able to study, has to visit the burn clinic everyday to have her bandages replaced and is on heavy painkillers.

“My whole life has stopped,” she said. “I can’t do anything for myself. I can’t drive. My boyfriend has had to take off work to take me to my appointments. I can’t shower. I can’t even go to the bathroom. It’s a nightmare. It’s so embarrassing.”

Ceci has consulted a lawyer, but doesn’t have high hopes for a lawsuit.

“I’m not looking to get rich or anything. I was just expecting a little more compassion from the company,” she said. “Some attempt to at least compensate for all the losses I’m going through.”

These kinds of burns are more common than people think, says Dr. Marc Jeschke, director of the Ross Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital, who has personally operated on several patients who had full-thickness burns on their thighs and genital areas.

In summer, injuries tend to be worse because people are wearing shorts, Jeschke says, and a spill directly onto the skin will always be more severe than one onto pants, which will provide some insulation from the heat.

“It can vary from superficial to really, really full-thickness. It depends on the temperature and the contact time,” he said.

Jeschke says anyone who spills a drink should immediately apply cold water — not ice, which could lead to frostbite — and if there is any blistering, they should go to hospital to have the burn checked out.

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