Isle of Man boy critically ill after swallowing button battery from his remote control car

• Video report by Isle of Man reporter Joshua Stokes

A family is hoping to raise awareness around the dangers of small batteries, after their son was taken to hospital.

Four-year-old Kaiden Taylor was airlifted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital after swallowing a button battery at his home in the Isle of Man.

Kaiden was playing at his nana's home in Douglas and accidentally swallowed the battery after taking it out of a remote control.

His nana quickly noticed the battery was missing and rushed him to Noble's Hospital.

After being assessed by the emergency department, he was airlifted to Alder Hey.

Kaiden was then met by his father Ryan, who was returning from a holiday.

Ryan said: "When I got there they explained to me what could happen and it was serious stuff what could happen.

"It could turn fatal, he could end up having to get cut open or he could end up having a blood transfusion or even go into intensive care.

"And he ended up going into critical care afterwards because of the damage that was caused."

The battery was lodged in Kaiden's oesophagus, and the alkaline within the battery was reacting with his saliva, causing it to burn from inside his body.

Ryan said: "They said it wasn't far away from burning through the oesophagus and into the blood vessels and main artery which is life threatening.

"We just had to take it hour by hour, it was terrifying".

After an hour of operating, surgeons removed the battery leaving Kaiden in critical care, before being moved to a surgical ward.

Staff at Alder Hey then looked after Kaiden for 27 days.

Laura Duthie, consultant at Alder Hey said: "We know the majority of children who swallow these objects, reassuringly turn out to be fine, but there are a proportion of them who sustain injuries and a small proportion of those who unfortunatley do die from those injuries.

"The key thing is if anybody suspects that their child has ingested a button battery, that they get to the emergency department as quickly as possible."

Kaiden is back at his home in the Isle of Man 'doing well' and 'getting back into a routine'.

Ryan concluded: "I don't want any parent going through what I've been through these last 27 days because you can find these batteries in remote controls, birthday cards, toys."And it doesn't take long for a kid to put it in their mouth and swallow it."

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