When baby Emmett was just a year old, he became very sick. With a high fever and lethargy, his parents took him to the hospital. As the newborn coughed up blood, the doctors rushed him into X-ray.
What they found was shocking. The small baby had swallowed a lithium ion battery. It’s the type that is found in most household’s remote controls. The battery was lodged into the child’s esophagus. How could his parents have possibly known that their baby swallowed a battery? The mother was wracked with guilt and knowing that the battery acid was burning him from the inside out was more than she could handle. It would seem that it would be as easy as removing the battery.
However, baby Emmett had many hoops to jump through to get well. The battery burned a hole straight through his trachea. Not only would the young child need help to breathe, but he would also need a feeding tube to get his nutrients.Over the course of the next five years, Emmett went through a total of 65 surgeries.
They were all related to the original ingestion of that battery. He can no longer breathe on his own. He has lost all functioning in his vocal chords and now won’t be able to talk. He is fed through a feeding tube due to the damage in that area. Emmett’s chances of living a normal life are slim to none. It was all because of a small battery that changed everything. Children put things in their mouth, but this child changed his whole future with one small mistake.
