Mum issues warning to parents after her daughter, 3, swallowed a button battery from a toy wand when the cap snapped
A little girl is lucky to be alive after she swallows a button battery from a toy wand.
Lexi Mae Portlam – who turns three years old today – swallowed the battery Monday night.
Haunted by the death in similar circumstances of fellow Stoke-on-Trent resident Harper Lee Fanthorpe, Lexie May’s 20-year-old mother Chantelle Portlam rushed her daughter to the Royal Stoke University Hospital where x-rays revealed a penny-sized battery. stomach.
Medics gave Lexie Mae honey to try to create a protective barrier between the battery and her stomach.
And now she’s got a full pass after the battery reappeared in her nappy on Wednesday.
Chantelle had turned her house upside down after she noticed the plastic battery cap on a toy stick had snapped and she had lost one of the three batteries. It was then that Lexi Mae pointed to her mouth.
Three-year-old Chantelle Portlam and Lexi Mai Bortlam from Stoke-on-Trent. Lexi Mae swallowed a button battery from a toy wand after the battery door closed
Lexi notices that the plastic battery cover on a toy stick has broken off and one of the three batteries is missing
The button battery in Lexie Mae’s stomach came out corroded and green-black
It comes after fellow Stoke-on-Trent mum Stacy Marie Nicklin lost her two-year-old daughter Harper Lee Fanthorpe in May 2021 after she swallowed a button battery from a remote control.
Chantelle said: ‘My heart just went out, I was really in tears. I’ve heard about Harper Lee. It’s hard, with another child being heard swallowing a battery and dying.
“My family was constantly texting and worrying, I was in tears.”
She added, “I’ve been watching it 24/7. Every time she had a poo, I’d check her diaper, and the second time, he’d come out.
Chantelle blew the “unsafe” game after the battery door broke with the screw still in the game
Lexi Mae in the hospital. Her worried mother has her daughter taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, after hearing about another local child who died from swallowing a button battery.
The condition of the battery when it came out really worried me. They were corroded, black and green in color.
‘It was terrifying.’ They said that if it didn’t come out and got messed up, they’d have to talk to the counselor and see what the next step would be. It could have ended up in a different situation.
The battery cover is not secure at all. Cut off the screw cap is still in the game.
Inside, the batteries were not properly protected. It was terrible. All batteries from all games have now been removed.
Chantelle added in a warning: “When children play with toys, make sure the batteries are securely in them.
Toy stores need to look at age groups – this game said 0-3, but it’s not acceptable. These toys contain loose parts, exposed batteries, and are not very safe for children at all, and must be over 6 years old. They should not sell children’s toys with button batteries entirely.
Stacy Marie created the Harper Lee Foundation to raise awareness about the dangers of button batteries. She is campaigning for the introduction of the Harper Lee Act which calls for banning button batteries in children’s goods such as toothbrushes, books and birthday cards.
Stacy Marie said: ‘This is the second child in Stoke-on-Trent in two years who has swallowed a button battery. I know how that mother was feeling. Their family is very lucky, their little girl is doing well. Mona died. Parents please check, check, and check again.
The Child Accident Prevention Trust reports that at least two children die annually from the ingestion of lithium coin cell batteries in this country.
Great Ormond Street Hospital reports that they see one child a month with major internal burns from swallowing a button battery.
No data is available on the number of children admitted to A&E after swallowing a button battery.
