One toddler has never been the same ever since he swallowed a battery. Asa, the son of Kasey Allen, swallowed a button battery at 16 months old, per PEOPLE. That was in October 2023, and now, nearly two years later, Asa has continued to suffer from medical complications.
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How A Toddler Swallowed A Button Battery And Survived
Allen explained in an exclusive interview with the outlet how the accident happened. As the mother was finishing up chores, she didn’t notice when her toddler swallowed a button battery.
“At some point, Asa grabbed the remote to the backup camera, which was mounted to the steering wheel, dropped it, the battery fell out, and picked it up and swallowed it,” she recalled.
Around 20 minutes later, her son was displaying some worrying symptoms. Asa’s face was flushed, he was salivating, and he became “very whiny and fussy.” Allen couldn’t understand what was happening, especially when Asa began to act fatigued.
“I was unsure of what was going on because I didn’t know there was a battery in the remote and didn’t know the signs of symptoms of button battery ingestion,” said Allen.
Things got worse when Asa later coughed up something strange. “I became worried as his symptoms lingered for about an hour,” Allen remembered. “Then he started coughing up black flakes, which was the outer covering of the battery. We rushed to the ER, where he was X-rayed, and they found he had swallowed a button battery.”
Allen shared her son’s difficult recovery journey through TikTok. Her videos have amassed over 447,000 likes, and the video spreading awareness of Asa’s story has grown to over 3.5 million views.
There was a reason Allen chose TikTok to share Asa’s story. “It was my best bet to get this information out quickly and efficiently,” she said. “We’ve had an outpouring of support and prayers and parents thankful for the information and awareness.”
Toddler Still Suffering Difficult Recovery Journey
Asa’s mother described his recovery as “long, disappointing, expensive, exhausting for our family, and extremely hard to watch our son go through.” Her toddler has gone weeks with only IV nutrition and months back and forth in the hospital. Even worse, Asa’s ability to eat and swallow had been a struggle for 18 months.
Despite all the difficulties, there have been some small miracles that have kept Asa alive. “Miraculously, Asa has zero scarred tissue in his esophagus after four treatments from the new facility/doctor from whom we sought a second opinion,” said Allen.
“He’s had approximately 27 dilations to stretch his esophagus. We haven’t had to give him any feeds through his G-tube since his first dilation with his new doctor at the end of February. He is growing so big.”
Allen is now using her social media platform to warn other parents about the dangers of electronics around babies. “Be aware of what electronics in your home may contain a button battery and make sure it’s properly secured with the screw that should now be in place, thanks to Reese’s Law,” Allen said. “Know the signs that follow the ingestion of a button battery.”
Now that she is informed of what to do during this dangerous situation, Allen shared a hack for parents. “If you think your child has swallowed a button battery, honey is said to slow the corrosion of the battery and could potentially be life-saving.” Using this household item can save your child’s life.