Button Batteries: 17-Month-old Baby Hugh Dies of Poisoning, Parents Call For Its Ban in Scotland

Button batteries used for children's toys have caused the death of Baby Hugh, a 17-month-old-boy, after swallowing the tiny thing. Following the toddler's death, the parents called for the passage of Baby Hughie's Law, which aims to ban button batteries in Scotland completely.

Christine McDonald, 32, and Hugh McMahon, 29, tucked little Hugh to bed around 7:30 PM after a hot chocolate and a movie night that fateful Christmas evening in their home in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Daily Express reported.

Two hours later, the couple was shocked to discover their youngest son lying on his back, giving out a strange sound from his chest, and just staring at the ceiling. The couple said that he had difficulty breathing, his color was draining, and he was flopping.

The couple panicked and quickly called an ambulance. When the medical responders arrived, they gave him oxygen. The baby was immediately brought to the University Hospital Wishaw.

The father said that he found out that his son was being resuscitated when they got to the hospital.

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Button battery poisoning in babies

McMahon said that everything happened so fast. Their baby lost a lot of blood, and it is all over the place. McMahon said it looked like their child just had a car accident. Later, the doctors told him that they did not know where the bleeding was coming from and that the baby's blood was acidic.

Doctors also told the distraught parents that Baby Hugh that a hole, the size of a coin, had been burned in his heart, and it was because a button battery was lodged in his esophagus. The baby had brain damage, and his organs were shutting down. Doctors also told the parents that should BabyHugh live, he would have to be tube-fed, and his throat was all burned out.

A 12-hour operation was done, but the baby kept bleeding, and he sustained severe injuries that the parents later decided to take the little one off the life support. Baby Hugh was laid to rest on December 26 in Cumbernauld.

"He had fought such a hard fight and it took such a toll on his little body," McMahon told the BBC.

Baby Hughie's Law

McMahon said they searched their home and found a teething toy of VTech company powered by three button batteries. One of the batteries was missing, and the family believes that it was the battery that baby Hugh swallowed.

According to Boys Town Pediatrics, swallowing button batteries has dire side effects. The battery could get stuck in the throat, causing an electric current and leak of corrosive chemicals like alkaline electrolytes. The corrosive chemicals cause the buildup of hydroxide, a chemical that causes dangerous burns within two hours.

Little Hugh's parents recently launched a petition for the passage of Baby Hughie's Law, which calls for the complete ban of button batteries.

The couple said that at least two children a year die from swallowing button batteries, and they do not want other families to go through what they experienced as "it just destroys you completely."

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