Madeline Dunn’s 18-month-old son nearly died after doctors misdiagnosed him with a stomach bug – he actually swallowed a deadly button battery that became lodged in his throat. 

Dunn first noticed something was wrong with Kai when he woke up at 11 p.m. screaming so intensely, the mom-of-two ‘couldn’t get him to calm down.’ Unsure what was wrong, she took Kai to the hospital.

The 26-year-old from Texas says the little boy screamed for the entirety of the journey to the emergency department, where she claims he was initially diagnosed with a stomach virus.

But Dunn said her gut instinct told her to push doctors for an x-ray, which revealed that Kai had swallowed a button battery – it was burning a hole in his throat. 

Button batteries contain a mix of corrosive chemicals that create a chemical reaction when swallowed.

They are highly reactive to moisture – like saliva – and can produce heat, causing severe burns in a short amount of time.

Dunn says doctors told her she ‘saved her baby’s life’ after pushing for the scan and an hour later Kai was rushed in for emergency surgery to remove the battery.

‘At around 11 p.m. that night he started screaming to the point where we couldn’t get him to calm down,’ Dunn explained. 

Madeline Dunn claims doctors said her son Kai (pictured) had a ‘stomach bug’ – until she pushed for an x-ray that revealed a deadly battery was burning a hole in his throat

‘Me and his dad were passing him back and forth between each other and we made the decision to bring him to the hospital because he was also drooling really bad.’

Dunn said she has a fear of her twins ‘swallowing something they’re not supposed to,’ So she pushed doctors for an x-ray.

‘They said they could do one to make me feel better,’ she explained.

‘When we were walking back to the room there was already a team of doctors waiting in the room with him and they had the x-ray pulled up which showed the button battery in his throat.

‘They were saying he’d swallowed a button [battery] – it’s code red. They started shoving honey down his throat and getting him prepared to rush him into surgery.

‘I didn’t know that he’d swallowed a button battery but something in my gut told me to have that x-ray done.’

‘The doctors told me when they were bringing him back from surgery that I saved my baby’s life by doing that,’ she added. Every single day I just keep thinking that we got lucky.’ 

Surgery was successful and doctors were able to remove the battery, but the little boy’s esophagus was black as a result of being burned and a CT scan revealed he had been left with a hole in his throat.

Button batteries contain a mix of corrosive chemicals that create a chemical reaction when swallowed. Pictured: A button batter lodged in a child’s throat

A study in the journal Pediatrics reported that from 2010 to 2019, approximately 70,322 emergency department visits were attributed to battery-related injuries. Kai is pictured above

Kai spent a week in hospital and was placed on antibiotics and a feeding tube – but doctors were unable to tell Dunn if her son would survive.

‘I kept asking them if they knew if my baby was going to live or not and they told me that they couldn’t say because with the hole, if he caught an infection it could have spread to areas outside of the esophagus,’ she told the Daily Mail.

After a week, however, the hole in Kai’s throat had closed and he was allowed to go home, with doctors warning he was ‘lucky to have survived’. 

He was discharged, but had to get his nutrients from a feeding tube and was only able to eat and drink purees as he was unable chew and swallow solids.

Since the incident, Kai has been undergoing weekly treatments to stretch out his esophagus after it tightened due to the build up of scar tissue. 

Dunn (pictured with Kai) is still unsure where the button battery came from but wants to help raise awareness of their potential dangers

Since the incident, Kai has been undergoing weekly treatments to stretch out his esophagus after it tightened due to the build up of scar tissue

‘They go in every week, put him under [anesthetic] and they stretch the esophagus out with a balloon,’ Dunn said.

‘He was able to get his feeding tube out last week but they said he’s still looking at eight to 10 procedures.’

His mom says she has ‘no idea’ where the button battery came from – they are common in toy phones, remote controls, keychains, watches and hearing aids – but now wants to help raise awareness and warn other parents of some of the potential dangers.

Between 2011 and 2021, an estimated 54,300 emergency room visits and at least 25 deaths were attributed to button battery exposure, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

An estimated 78 percent of these incidents involved children aged six or younger.

She is encouraging other people to ensure the batteries are well secured if in any children’s toys. 

Offering a word of advice to other parents, she said: ‘I have no idea where it [the battery] came from but when we checked his toys after he was hospitalized the majority of his toddler toys have button batteries in them.

‘It’s just making sure that if toys do have button batteries in them that they’re secure and the back on them is tight.

‘Unfortunately there have been a lot of deaths due to button batteries, especially in younger children.

‘We were told [by doctors]… to get to the hospital immediately because the faster it’s removed, the better.’