Mum Of Button Battery Survivor Shares Story

It’s been almost four weeks since one-year-old Amity Buchanan ingested a button battery which became lodged in her throat, causing metal shards to come dangerously close to her aorta and boring an eight-centimetre burn into her oesophagus.

She was lucky to survive and since then, her parents have been on a rollercoaster ride of emergency airlifts, surgery, scans, scopes and medical appointments.

Finally, there is a glimmer of hope now that their daughter’s recovery can begin.

The family are based at the Ronald McDonald House in Southbank, Brisbane, so they can be close to the hospital.

Amity’s mother, Jemma Gultzow, says her daughter is eating only pureed food and that, although she is “in good spirits”, it is difficult watching her child deprived of what she once loved.

“Food was a big part of her life and it’s sad to see her not able to eat proper food that she loves,” said Jemma.

Despite this, Jemma feels grateful that Amity is still alive, especially since she discovered there have been three known cases in Australia where children have died from ingesting a button battery.

She realises how lucky they are and feels frustrated that her concerns were not addressed by the medical team at Mackay Base Hospital sooner which could have lessened the damage caused by the battery.

“We are extremely disappointed, in fact angry – we feel that Amity was neglected by the doctor,” explains Jemma.

“She presented to the hospital within an hour of ingesting the battery, her symptoms could have been lessened if the proper procedures had been done straight away.”

“I Thought She Was Going To Die In My Arms”

Amity was at home playing in the walk-in wardrobe while her mother was less than two metres away on the nearby bed.

Within a couple of minutes Amity came to Jemma holding a polyester bean, part of a bean bag she had received as a birthday present a few weeks earlier.

Jemma states that she did not see her eat it.

Within five minutes, however, Jemma could hear a strange whistling sound when Amity breathed and a few minutes later she was vomiting.

Calling an ambulance, little Amity was rushed to hospital but after a long wait and a quick examination that did not include an x-ray, Amity was sent home.

This frustrates Jemma, because protocol for a child who is thought to have ingested an item is usually an x-ray and although she did not see Amity ingest anything, the rapidity of the symptoms made her think something had been ingested.

Eventually it was discovered to be a battery from an old electronic car key.

Amity’s father, Daniel, took the family home for the night, but when her condition worsened the following day, they went to their local doctor who referred them for an x-ray at the hospital.

Upon presenting for the second time, Jemma said they were confronted by the same doctor who had dismissed them the day before.

Jemma said that once again they waited for over 40 minutes, despite Daniel imploring the staff to help.

She alleges that the doctor showed them his list of emergency patients implying that Amity’s condition was not serious enough to warrant his immediate attention.

When they were finally granted an x-ray, Jemma says that the doctor was rude and did not give directions on where they needed to go.

As soon as the x-ray was ready, however, they could see the circular shape of the button battery and the situation escalated quickly.

Jemma says they mentioned how rude the previous doctor was and were offered a different doctor which she agreed to.

She then states that the previous doctor came back into the room and confronted them.

“He was so nasty to us,” said Jemma.

“He came back into the room intimidating us and asking why we had asked for a new doctor – it was awful.”

Fortunately, after this encounter, Amity was flown to Townsville Hospital where she was rushed into theatre and the battery removed.

She was then flown down to Brisbane where she is still recovering.

“I am not a medical professional, and I did not once say that I had seen her ingest the polystyrene bean,” said Jemma.

“I feel like that has been used to throw the blame back on me.”

Mackay Base Hospital released a statement earlier this week stating they would be undertaking a preliminary review of the care provided.

“A more extensive review is still ongoing as part of our usual established internal patient safety processes,” said Mackay Base Hospital Interim Chief Executive Dr Charles Pain.

“We will also be communicating with the family as part of this.”

Dr Pain confirms that the hospital followed the state-wide guideline that provides clinical guidance for all staff involved in the care and management of a child presenting to emergency with a suspected or confirmed ingested foreign body.

“The critical question that has arisen in the Mackay case is about the decision not to initially x-ray,” he said.

“When a doctor is making that judgement, they will be guided by the history that is given about what the child has eaten and if a doctor is given a clear story that they’ve eaten a particular thing, then they won’t want to expose that child to radiation from an x-ray.

“From our initial investigation I believe the decision not to x-ray was an appropriate judgement to make based on the information presented and the clinical examination of the child.

“However, one thing we will do from now on is to specifically ask the parent if they witnessed the child swallow the object. If they did not, it will influence our decision on whether to x-ray.”

‍

‍

Baby Amity in hospital after the operation to remove the battery

Baby Amity with her parents, Katherine and Daniel

‍