Christmas abruptly ended for one US family when their two-year-old girl, Brianna, suddenly took ill and within hours was pronounced dead.
The reason? The toddler had eaten a tiny button battery – which according to the autopsy then had eaten through an artery in the child’s oesophagus.
Brianna Florer’s grandfather, Kent Vice, described to their local Oklahoma newspaper how his little granddaughter had a “perfect Christmas” with her family before suddenly starting to vomit blood and turn blue on December 27th last year.
Her parents called paramedics, and she was taken to hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but Brianna died after two hours of emergency surgery attempting to stop the internal bleeding.
“She was always happy and laughing…she was just an angel,” Vice, explains. “One minute she is perfect, and the next minute she is dead. We had no idea when she swallowed the battery.”
A family friend has set up a GoFundMe page to help Brianna's family with the funeral expenses, and explains in a statement that while the toddler's family are struggling to come to terms with her sudden death, they are also humbled by the outpouring of love and support they are receiving.
Button batteries, to those who wonder, are the small, round, silver-coloured lithium batteries used in watches and many electrical toys. Meaning that the majority of us have them in the house.
Were YOU aware just how dangerous a threat these small batteries can pose to young children? We for one will absolutely be more vigilant about making sure any devices in our own houses are safely tightened and shut, with the batteries put far out of reach.
(Image via GoFundMe)
