When one-year-old Keith Karre swallowed a small battery, his family’s world was turned upside down.
Keith was playing with a toy phone in his living room next to his brother in January when he suddenly pulled the battery out of the phone and into his mouth.
His mother, Katie Woodside, described it as “the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
She and her husband, Nick Karre, struggled to fish the small button-like object out of their baby’s throat, but he turned blue, foamed at the mouth and coughed up blood.
An ambulance rushed them to the hospital, where doctors confirmed that the baby had swallowed a button cell battery, a small and flat round object.
Ms Woodside, a hairdresser from New York, said: ‘When these batteries get wet they cause a chemical reaction and they bubble up. They eat through the skin, so they ate through his throat.
‘He fainted from the pain. It was absolutely terrible.’
Doctors performed a 90-minute operation to remove the button and Keith spent two weeks recovering in intensive care.
Keith Karre now has scarring in his esophagus and is expected to have lifelong problems
Doctors performed a 90-minute operation to remove the button while Keith spent two weeks recovering in intensive care
Mrs Woodside added: “He was in so much pain. He was crying and covered in tubes, so I couldn’t even pick him up and hold him.’
Button batteries like the one Keith swallowed contain a mix of caustic chemicals.
Alkaline batteries contain potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, which can cause a chemical reaction if swallowed.
This can quickly damage tissue and cause serious burns in a short time.
Lithium batteries are highly reactive to moisture (such as saliva) and can produce heat, which can cause burns.
Keith now has scarring in his esophagus and is expected to have lifelong problems with eating and swallowing.
From now on, Keith only eats pureed foods and is absolutely unable to swallow solids.
His parents also invested in a device that can suck food from his throat in case something gets stuck.
Button batteries are small enough that children can grab them, swallow them and choke on them. Keith pulled it out of a toy phone and into his mouth
Mrs Woodside said: ‘Children usually bounce back quite well, but he chokes on everything.’
About 2,500 American children swallow button cell batteries or place them in their ears or noses each year, and a chemical reaction typically occurs within 15 minutes.
Swallowing these batteries can be fatal as they can cause severe chemical burns in the esophagus, causing holes there and in surrounding organs such as the trachea and even the heart.
The acid in the battery can leak, leading to poisoning or more serious chemical burns.
If the damage to the esophagus is not treated within about an hour, it can lead to infection and internal bleeding.
Mother Katie Woodside said Keith was in pain, crying and covered in tubes so she couldn’t pick him up and hold him
Mrs Woodside, pictured with her husband Nick and two children, threw away everything in their home that contained a button cell battery and hid it
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Dr. Ebony Hunter from Johns Hopkins said: ‘Some children have no complaints immediately after taking it.
‘However, if a child has had a button battery in the esophagus for a significant period of time, they may experience pain, drooling, difficulty swallowing, voice change, chest pain, coughing or spitting up blood, drinking or eating less. or stomachache.’
Button batteries are everywhere: toy telephones, remote controls, key rings, tea lights, watches and hearing aids.
A study in the journal Pediatrics found that approximately 70,322 emergency room visits were attributed to battery-related injuries between 2010 and 2019, for an annual rate of 9.5 per 100,000 children.
Coin batteries were the most common type, accounting for 85 percent of cases where battery type was specified.
Young children, especially those aged five years and under, had the highest incidence rate, with 24.5 visits per 100,000 children. In ninety percent of the cases, a child swallowed the battery.
The button batteries are smaller than bite-sized batteries, and a curious baby is prone to swallowing and choking.
Mrs Woodside said: ‘I’ve got rid of all the toys with batteries. We have rechargeable things now.
‘If parents have toys with batteries in them, they should throw them away. Don’t have them. I don’t care if it doesn’t light up or make a sound, they can make the sound themselves.
‘You don’t think it will happen to you and your child. Many children are less fortunate.’