Mum's warning after daughter, 3, rushed to hospital after swallowing toy battery
The mother of a little girl who is lucky to be alive after swallowing a battery has issued a frantic warning to parents.
On Monday, Chantelle Bortlam had to rush her three-year-old daughter Lexi Mai to the Royal Stoke University Hospital after realising the tot had consumed a penny-size button battery from a toy wand.
When at the A&E, the youngster had an x-ray which revealed the battery in her stomach and medics gave her honey to form a protective barrier between the battery and her stomach.
Now, the 20-year-old mum has issued a warning to other parents after Lexi Mai was given the all-clear when the battery appeared in her nappy on Wednesday, the Stoke Sentinel reports.
Chantelle revealed she turned their Bentilee home upside down after noticing the plastic battery cover on a toy wand had snapped, one of the three batteries was missing and Lexi Mai pointed to her mouth.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
The panicked mum said: “My heart just went, I was really in tears. I had heard about Harper-Lee. It is difficult, with hearing of another child swallowing a battery and dying. My family were all constantly messaging and stressing, I was in tears.
Lexi Mai, from Stoke-on-Trent, swallowed a battery from her toy wand (Bortlam)
The tot was rushed to hospital where medics gave her honey to create a barrier between her stomach and the battery (Bortlam)“I was watching her 24/7. Every time she had a poo, I checked her nappy, the second time, it did come out. The state that the battery was in when it came out really worried me. It was corroded and black and green.
“It was terrifying. They said that if it hadn't come out and it had got jammed, they would have had to talk to the consultant and find out what the next step was going to be. It could have ended up in a different situation.
“The battery cover isn’t safe at all. The screw is still in the toy, the cover snapped. Inside, the batteries weren’t even protected properly. It was horrible. All batteries out of all the toys have now been binned.”
In a warning to others, Chantelle said: “When kids are playing with toys, make sure the batteries are in them securely.
"Toy stores need to look at the age ranges, this toy said 0-3, but it is not acceptable. These toys have loose parts, batteries exposed, they are not very safe for children at all, they should be 6+. They should not sell kids' toys with button batteries in full stop.”
A similar incident with a tragic outcome happened to fellow Stoke-on-Trent mum, Stacy-Marie Nicklin, who lost her two-year-old daughter Harper-Lee Fanthorpe in May 2021 after she swallowed a button battery from a remote control.
Stacy-Marie set up the Harper-Lee Foundation to raise awareness about the dangers of button batteries.
She is campaigning for Harper-Lee’s Law to be introduced which calls for button batteries to be banned out of children’s goods such as toothbrushes, books and birthday cards.
The button battery appeared in Lexi Mae's nappy two days later (Bortlam)Stacy-Marie said: “This is the second child in Stoke-on-Trent in two years that has swallowed a button battery. I know how that mum was feeling. Their family is very lucky, their little girl is OK. Mine passed away. Parents please check, check and check again.”
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Child Accident Prevention Trust reports at least two children a year have died as a result of swallowing lithium coin cell batteries in this country.
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