A 2-year-old Oklahoman toddler died after ingesting a button battery usually found in toys and watches, Grand Lake News reported.
Brianna Florer was happy and bubbly during Christmas Eve, her parents, Brian and Stephanie, shared. However, she also wasn't feeling very well, suffering from fever and vomiting the last few days.
Two days after, on Sunday, Dec. 27, she coughed up blood and turned blue that her family decided to call an ambulance, which they met at a convenience store. There, the little girl continued throwing up massive amounts of blood that she was sent to Grove Hospital.
Grove Hospital diagnosed the problem, but the child needed surgery and was moved to St. Francis Hospital where she was operated for more than two hours. Sadly, the doctors could no longer contain the bleeding and she eventually died.
On her X-ray, the doctor discovered a button lithium-ion battery she might have ingested at least six days before she died. The family didn't know how she's able to get and eat it, but poisoning due to lithium-ion batteries isn't entirely uncommon in the United States.
In 2014, more than 3,000 children suffered from battery poisoning, which resulted in two deaths, the National Capital Poison Center reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), meanwhile, mentioned that around 40,000 children 13 years old and below were treated in emergency departments for battery-related injuries from 1997 to 2010.
Although these batteries can be eliminated by the body, in certain cases, they get stuck in the esophagus, such as in Brianna's case. The doctors believe the acid from the battery leaked and damaged the carotid artery, one of the major arteries of the body, which led to her profuse bleeding.
The body is currently being autopsied by the medical examiner, and it may take months before the results come out. The family is grieving, but they're asking for help for funeral expenses through their GoFundMe account. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has also issued a warning on button battery ingestion.
