A mother has warned other parents about button batteries after her nine-month-old baby suffered throat burns after accidentally swallowing one.
Kiara West, 24, first noticed a problem when her daughter Rosantina West started wheezing on February 14.
When her husband Daniel West, 22, took their baby to the emergency room, doctors sent them home with a nebulizer, suggesting Rosantina had RSV, a respiratory virus much like the common cold.
But when her baby’s wheezing worsened, West took her to Children’s Hospital of Minnesota on Feb. 16, where an X-ray quickly revealed that a button battery was lodged in her esophagus.
The small, shiny batteries are used in devices such as television remote controls, watches, calculators and kitchen scales, and are the cause of several children being hospitalized each week, as swallowing them can cause serious burns.
Little Rosantina West (pictured) started wheezing on February 14 and the real cause wasn’t discovered until two days later when she was rushed into emergency surgery.
When Rosantina’s wheezing worsened, Ms. West took her to Children’s Hospital of Minnesota on February 16, where an x-ray quickly revealed that a button battery was lodged in her esophagus.
Acid leaking from batteries begins to burn through the esophagus just 30 minutes after being ingested, causing lifelong injuries and, in some cases, even death (pictured: Hospital scans reveal burns in Rosantina’s throat)
Leaking battery acid begins burning through the esophagus as soon as 30 minutes after being ingested, causing lifelong injuries and, in some cases, even death.
Mother-of-two Mrs West was left in tears as doctors revealed how lethal the button battery could be, before Rosantina was rushed onto the operating table.
Daniel, who works as a forklift operator, later discovered two items at home that he suspects the button battery could have come from: a remote control for LED lights or his three-year-old son Kidan’s light-up toy car for the bathroom.
While a surgeon was able to successfully remove the battery from Rosantina’s throat, the couple now hopes to warn others about the dangers that button batteries can pose.
Mrs. West, from Chanhassen, Minnesota, said: “At first when it happened, I just noticed that she was wheezing. My husband took her to the local emergency room and they sent her home saying it was RSV, a respiratory problem.
‘They sent her home with a nebulizer and said she would get better after using it a few times.
‘I wore it all night one day, all day Thursday, but on Friday morning his wheezing got even worse. I thought ‘I have to take her to the children’s hospital.’
“That’s where they ended up doing an x-ray and saw that he had swallowed the button battery. My heart just dropped to my stomach.
‘I heard “battery” and thought “wow, that’s bad” because of the acid.
Mother-of-two Mrs West (left) was left in tears as doctors revealed how lethal the button battery could be, before Rosantina was rushed onto the operating table.
Kiara West shared devastating images of her daughter hooked up to machines after surgery to remove her button battery
Hospital scans reveal devastating burns on nine-month-old Rosantina’s throat
The button battery that was inside nine-month-old Rosantina’s throat
Father Daniel West (right), 22, with his daughter Rosantina, 9, while she was in the hospital after her surgery.
“I didn’t even know how much damage he could have caused, but seeing him housed there, I was as scared and shocked as any parent would be.”
“Everyone seemed so rushed and I started thinking, ‘Maybe this is worse than I thought?’
‘I already thought it was bad but they quickly started preparing her for the operating room.
‘They said that the button battery is one of the worst batteries that a child can swallow and that it was lodged in the esophagus. He burned her esophagus.
‘Rosantina was just crying and crying. She’s only nine months old and we couldn’t even explain to her what was happening.’
The terrified mother did not realize the danger until her husband arrived and the doctors explained again how bad button batteries can be.
The hospital gave Rosantina medication to cover the battery before anesthetizing her and operating on her throat to remove the battery.
She remained intubated for six days after surgery due to damage to her esophagus, without her parents being able to speak to her or touch her.
Mrs West said: ‘My husband came straight away. They explained everything to him and that’s when I really started listening.
“At first, I was so focused on my daughter and what was going to happen that it was just in my head.
Since Rosantina’s surgery, her parents have removed all items with button batteries from their home and are warning other parents to do the same or invest in a playpen to help keep an eye on the little ones.
This chilling time-lapse experiment involving a battery and a chicken fillet shows what a single button battery can do if a child swallows it, after 30 minutes (left) and four hours (right).
Mother Kiara West, 24, with her nine-month-old daughter Rosantina, who was hospitalized after swallowing a button battery.
But then Daniel told me, ‘It’s okay, you have to stop crying’ and that’s when I started listening. They said they were going to have a lot of problems because the tissue burned.
‘Fortunately, the operation was successful, but her esophagus was so damaged that she had to be intubated.
‘After her operation we couldn’t even talk to her or touch her until six days later. I think she could hear us a little bit, but that was it.”
Relieved that their precious daughter has recovered, the couple believe it was a “miracle” that the damage was not worse, and doctors suspect the battery may have died.
The couple have since removed all items from their home with button batteries and warn other parents to do the same or invest in a playpen to help keep an eye on the babies.
Mrs West said: “It was almost like a miracle.” All the doctors were very surprised that the damage was not as serious as it could be.
“They think it may have swallowed a dead battery, so that could be the reason it wasn’t as bad.”
“I would definitely recommend other parents check all of their children’s toys to make sure they don’t have button batteries and to throw them away if they do.”
‘Of course, some household items need them and things like headphones, but make sure the screws are tight.
‘We have gone through everything in the house with button batteries and we have gotten rid of them. A playpen is also definitely something that could help busy parents.
“Babies get into everything, especially when they start crawling, so maybe consider this as an extra precaution.”