A little girl who ate a battery is expected to make a full recovery after she vomited it back up in hospital.
Sarah Wallace accidentally swallowed a small button battery in Scotland last month and after confessing to her parents was screaming in agony within minutes.
The nine-year-old had put the battery – from a remote control for her nightlight – in her mouth since she had previously enjoyed the texture of a metallic necklace.
She was worried she would get into trouble and told her mum and stepdad what she had done, at around 10pm on November 22.
Within ten minutes of them calling 999, Sarah started screaming and clutching her chest at their home in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
The leaking battery was burning her oesophagus.
Fearing that an ambulance could take too long to arrive, mum-of-one Joanne Wallace, 35, drove with her husband Jamie Longland, 38, to nearby Victoria Hospital.
Medics put diamorphine up the youngster’s nose to calm her down – but she then was sick and the battery came up.
Joanne, a customer service assistant, explained: ‘When she came down the stairs, she wasn’t in a panic but she obviously thought she was going to get in trouble.
‘She told us she had swallowed something and once we worked out it was a battery, I immediately phoned 999.
‘I phoned the ambulance because I wasn’t sure if A&E was open.
‘We waited ten minutes and by this point Sarah was panting and screaming with the pain, clutching her chest and bent over.’
Her mother explained that Sarah had not intended to eat the battery, which began burning her oesophagus as it leaked.
Joanne continued: ‘Within ten minutes of being in the hospital, she’d already been X-rayed and they identified the battery and where it was.
‘They gave her diamorphine up her nose to calm her down, because her breathing was quite bad by this point.
‘It made her choke and when she choked she threw up and the battery came up onto the floor of the hospital.
‘It was black and blue and leaking… (and) looked like you’d left the battery in something for six months too long.’
Sarah is still taking omeprazole to aid her recovery, having been taken to the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh for an assessment.
Joanne added: ‘She was taken down and put to sleep, quite possibly the most terrifying moment of my life actually.
‘She was asleep for about 20 minutes and then back up the ward, eating toast and drinking milk.
‘Her oesophagus has been burned so when it heals it will scar slightly.
‘Because the battery was only there for an hour, they reckon the scarring will be so minimal it will make no difference to her life at all.’
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