Kasey Allen’s life took a turn on an ordinary day in October 2023.
Allen tells PEOPLE that she was tidying up while her children played nearby. However, while finishing up her chores, she failed to notice her then-16-month-old son, Asa, swallowing a button battery.
“Asa and my other two children were playing as I was picking up and cleaning in our RV,” Allen tells me. “At some point, Asa grabbed the remote to the backup camera, which was mounted to the steering wheel, dropped it, the battery fell out, and picked it up and swallowed it.”
When Allen returned to the area, she discovered the remote on the floor, and about 20 minutes later, Asa began to exhibit alarming symptoms.
According to Allen, the child began salivating, flushed his face, and became extremely whiny and fussy. Eventually, fatigue symptoms appeared.
“I was unsure of what was going on because I did not know there was a battery in the remote and did not know the signs of symptoms of button battery ingestion,” according to Allen.
“I became worried as his symptoms lingered for about an hour, and then he started coughing up black flakes, which was the outer covering of the battery,” she says. “We rushed to the ER, where he was X-rayed, and they found he had swallowed a button battery.”
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia reports that over 3,500 button batteries are ingested in the United States each year. Signs that someone has swallowed a button battery include noisy breathing, coughing, drooling, difficulty swallowing, a hoarse voice, vomiting, chest or abdominal pain, and gagging, coughing, or choking while eating or drinking.
When small lithium batteries are swallowed, they frequently become lodged in the throat, causing saliva to conduct an electric current that can cause severe burning, esophageal perforation, vocal cord paralysis, and other complications.
Allen describes the recovery process as “long, disappointing, expensive, exhausting for our family, and extremely hard to watch our son go through.”
“He is had to go weeks with only IV nutrition, months of torture going back and forth to the hospital, and has dealt with the difficulty of eating and swallowing for 18 months.”
Allen has been posting Asa’s story and journey to recovery on TikTok. The video she posted of Asa going in for his 27th dilation treatment went viral, with over 5.5 million viewers.
“Miraculously, Asa has zero scarred tissue in his esophagus after four treatments from the new facility/doctor from whom we sought a second opinion,” according to her.
“He has undergone approximately 27 dilations to stretch his esophagus. We have not had to administer any feeds through his G-tube since his first dilation with his new doctor at the end of February. “He is getting so big.”
Allen hopes to raise awareness about the dangers of button batteries by sharing their experience online.
“Be aware of what electronics in your home may contain a button battery and make sure it is properly secured with the screw that should now be in place, thanks to Reese’s Law,” she informs us. “Know the signs that follow the ingestion of a button battery.”
“If you think your child has swallowed a button battery, honey is said to slow the corrosion of the battery and could potentially be life-saving.” Allen reveals a hack she was unaware of at the time.
Allen chose to share Asa’s story on TikTok because she knows the app has millions of users worldwide.
“It was my best bet to get this information out quickly and efficiently,” she told me. “We have had an outpouring of support and prayers and parents thankful for the information and awareness.”
She encouraged others in a similar situation to “find a support group, stay strong, and most importantly, learn how to advocate for your child.”
