Button Battery From Toy Burns Hole In Toddler's Esophagus Who Swallowed It

A toddler suffered burns in his esophagus after mistakenly swallowing a button battery from a toy. The Connecticut boy's parents are now warning others about such batteries in children's toys that can be extremely dangerous.

According to local media, the incident took place last year before Christmas when the child was playing with his toys. The mother noticed something wrong as the 15-month-old looked distressed. The parents rushed him to an emergency room and an X-Ray revealed a button battery from one of his toys was stuck in his throat.

“He had damage to his esophagus, scarring, and it had paralyzed his vocal cords,” mother Marisa Soto said, adding the swallowed battery also caused inflammation in his brain and heart.

Soto said they later took their son Cameron to Connecticut’s Children’s Medical Center where doctors removed the battery less than 24 hours after he had ingested it.

Dr. Christopher Grindle, who treated Cameron, said button battery ingestion can cause damage in just 15 minutes after it has been consumed, and severe injuries in two hours.

“It starts to create an electric current around and can cause a build up of some chemicals that can erode through the tissues like I said in a matter of minutes,” Grindle reportedly said.

Button batteries in toys are very small and pose risk of being ingested by toddlers if they are not watched by an elder. Doctors suggest to protect children it is necessary to be aware of the toys that have such batteries and they must not be given to toddlers when the children are alone.

“If we knew what can happen in our home never had no toys with batteries," Soto said in an interview with local network PIX 11.

It is also necessary to make sure the batteries are secured by a screw to access them.

According to Cameron's parents, their child was lucky to have escaped any fatal incident and is now recovering after undergoing four surgeries.

“Even if I can just help another person look out for all of these things so this doesn’t happen to another kid... because it’s devastating,” Soto said about why she wanted to share what happened to their son.

Doctors said Cameron's condition was improving and the trachea should be taken out in the next year after which he will regain the use of his vocal cords.