(Madison Jamie Photography)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

making the world a safer place

Red Deer mom’s quest to raise awareness of button battery safety a success

Jan 30, 2021 | 12:58 PM

A Red Deer mother’s journey which began with a nightmare has turned into one of education and advocacy.

After a period of guilt and shame, Leslie Bangamba’s goal now is to save lives, she says.

Last April, her daughter, Amélie, swallowed a lithium button battery. While Leslie wasn’t looking, then one-year-old Amélie keeled over and began bleeding from the nose.

Hours later, they were at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton for a procedure to remove the battery which was lodged in the toddler’s esophagus.

Nearly a year later, the now two-year-old is living a relatively normal life, but receives regular esophageal dilation treatment.

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Meanwhile, mom has become an advocate for increased awareness about the dangers associated with button batteries. Her traumatic experience and passion is now affecting meaningful change with Duracell.

“I reached out to the American side of Duracell in October,” she shares. “When they finally did get back to me, I said, ‘Listen, I know you’re partnering with celebrities or people more well-known, but I’ve been advocating for lithium coin battery awareness because it happened to me. I need to be a part of this campaign,’” she tells.

In the fall, Duracell announced it would add a bitter coating to its button batteries, and make the packaging for those types of batteries more childproof. Those products are in stores now.

“It of course breaks our hearts to hear about such unfortunate situations. Even one case of accidental ingestions is too many,” says Michelle Potorski, Duracell’s North America Global Brand Vice President. “We know parents go to great lengths to keep their homes and children safe, but sometimes devices are brought into the home, such as remotes, key fobs and toys, that can unknowingly contain a hidden danger. Duracell takes battery safety very seriously and we’re continuously working to update precautions and safety standards.”

Potorski says Duracell was touched by Bangamba’s story because of her and Amélie’s courage, strength and resilience.

Leslie Bangamba and two-year-old daughter Amélie, now a Stollery Superstar, proudly presented a cheque to the Stollery following a birthday fundraiser in October 2020. (Supplied)

“It’s inspiring how she’s turned her unfortunate experience with her daughter into an opportunity to strongly advocate for lithium coin battery safety when it comes to young children,” she adds. “We are proud to be able to team up with her to bring awareness to the hidden danger of lithium coin batteries and steps parents can take to help prevent accidental ingestions.”

Bangamba says one of her next objectives is to push for a national database which tracks incidents such as battery ingestions.

Stateside, according to the National Battery Ingestion Hotline, there were more than 1,800 button battery ingestions by children six or younger in 2019 alone. Three children died and 15 had major life-altering injuries. There were more than 59,000 such incidents between 1985 and 2019.

“We don’t track this. There’s no Canadian data on children this has happened to,” says Bangamba. “I’m now trying to get in touch with MLAs, as well as friends and family, and other people to determine how we can move forward on that.”

Alberta Health Services notes that battery ingestion is part of “foreign object ingestion” data, but that it has set up a working group to track button battery ingestion incidents more specifically.

AHS also recently added button battery safety to its Provincial Injury Prevention Program. AHS notes that risks are part of life, but we can manage most of them.

Leslie Bangamba with husband Astrel, daughter Amélie, and sons Andwele and Akeem. (Madison Jamie Photography)

“Because of their size and appearance, young children may mistake button batteries for candy or food,” a statement from AHS reads. “Swallowed batteries can lead to choking or cause chemical burns in your child’s airway, in as little as two hours. A child may also experience injury if a battery is placed in a body part such as their nose or ear.”

In addition to the coating and packaging enhancements, Duracell promotes its ‘Power Safely’ initiative, which aims to educate consumers about potential hidden dangers in the home. Duracell advises to regularly inspect devices and secure battery compartments, and also to keep batteries out of reach of children.

For now, Bangamba is grateful that Amélie’s health is trending in the right direction, but she admits her work is far from over.

“This is near and dear to me, so Duracell adding the non-toxic bitter coating speaks to my soul,” Bangamba says. “I’m doing everything to prevent this from happening to any other child.”

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