Sea of purple remembers Summer as battery fight continues

Children painted the town purple this Summer's Day in honour of Sunshine Coast girl Summer Steer, who tragically died after swallowing a button-sized battery.

SUMMER'S DAY: Children dressed in purple to honour Summer Steer, who died in 2013 after she swallowed a button-sized battery. Summer's mum Andrea Shoesmith has been raising awareness on the risks of batteries ever since. Picture: Patrick Woods

CHILDREN painted the town purple this Summer's Day in honour of Sunshine Coast girl Summer Seer, who tragically died after swallowing a button-sized battery.

The four-year-old's life was cut short in 2013 when she swallowed a 2cm lithium battery.

Her mother Andrea Shoesmith is determined to make sure the Summer's death was not in vain and has been raising awareness ever since about the dangers of batteries.

This morning she attended Tewantin State School's Summer's Day event and spoke with children and parents about the dangers of button batteries.

"It's important to get it out there," she said.

"You just think it's getting better and something happens again. It's frustrating that it's still happening."

While Summer's death was the first of its kind in Australia, Ms Shoesmith said too many children were still being admitted to hospital for swallowing button batteries.

She said 20 children were admitted to hospital each week in Queensland after ingesting button batteries, and four children a week on the Sunshine Coast.

Summer Steer died in 2013 after swalling a 2cm lithium battery. Picture: Contributed

Ms Shoesmith said she was overwhelmed with support from children as young as five dressing in purple to remember Summer's legacy yesterday.

"It's just amazing," she said.

"I've even had tiny little preppies really showing interest and asking about her."

Tewantin State School principal Rob Jennings said the community had been passionate about raising awareness on the risks of button batteries since Summer's death.

"There's been a lot of support today," he said.

He said students and parents at the school were educated about the risks and how important it was to keep the batteries away from young children.

"For the kids, it's often their toys that they're getting or different types of things their parents are buying," Mr Jennings said.

"As parents, we kind of assume everything is safe for our kids ... but once those batteries are out of the toys, there's a lot of risk.

"We really need to be aware of the potential risks."