Button battery baby to have exploratory surgery

Having pulled through the most serious phase of her injury, a baby who swallowed a button battery faces further surgery.

A young Queensland girl who swallowed a button battery will on Friday undergo a procedure to reveal how much damage was done to her burnt oesophagus.

One-year-old Amity Buchanan managed to remove and swallow a battery from an old car key on March 13, leaving an 8cm burn to her oesophagus.

She was placed in an induced coma the next day, and after about two days she was brought out of it.

A procedure to check the damage and plan for future treatment is scheduled for mid-morning on Friday.

Her father Daniel Buchanan said on the outside his daughter’s recovery had been going well, but as a parent it had been hard to see.

Jemma Gultzow, 21, and Daniel Buchanan, 27, with their daughter Amity Buchanan, 1, at Queensland Children's Hospital. Picture: Liam Kidston

“It’s been absolutely beautiful to see her playing again, but there’s a side of things that aren’t seen like something as simple as changing her tape, we have to strap her down, she’s in hysterics in tears and she’s looking at me and Mum saying stop,” he said.

“She’s in pain when the tape gets put back on, that's the side of things that no one sees which is really painful for us and taking a toll on our mental health.

Mr Buchanan said over the past two weeks it had been difficult not knowing what the outcome was going to be.

“We were starting to feel really anxious, hoping for some answers,” he said.

But despite all the challenges he said he had been nice seeing her progress.

“She’s such a little fighter it’s crazy. She’s got a lot of fight in her that's for sure. Even when they give her drugs, it doesn't do much, she’s such a fighter,” he said.

“She is responding really well, she’s doing as good as she can and running around when she can.

“Most the time she’s hooked up getting fed through a machine, and it’s hard for her to run around.”

An X-ray shows the button battery in Amity’s oesophagus.

Originally published as Button battery baby to have exploratory surgery