Mom thought she lost her baby after he had black stuff coming out of his mouth — then a call to her nurse friend saved his life
A mom of 3 and social media content creator, Kasey Allen — who goes by @kaseyall on TikTok — shared a tragedy that hit her life when her 16-month-old baby swallowed a button battery. She rushed into the emergency room to get him treated — thankfully, he survived!
The 32-year-old Kasey, who is also a photographer, told Newsweek about the incident. On October 13, 2023, Kasey was in her new RV with her kids, Sailor, then 5, Nayvie, 2, and Asa. "The kids were playing, and I was doing some chores around 15 feet away. I found a broken remote on the floor, but I didn't think anything of it," Kasey told the outlet. "Asa was acting normal, so I don't have a time frame of when he would have done it. But, about 20 to 30 minutes later, the symptoms started — he was fatigued, flushed, irritable, salivating, and coughing,” she added.
"He was acting tired and whiny. I thought he must be tired, so I laid him down for a nap." After 20 minutes, his condition worsened, and Kasey noticed some black stuff coming out of his mouth. "I started freaking out, so I called my friend who is a nurse, and she said it sounds like he has swallowed a button battery. Then the penny dropped,” she added. "I loaded the kids up, and we rushed to the ER. They did an X-ray and saw the battery — it was caught in between the collarbones. They were not equipped to operate on him at all."
They rushed to a bigger hospital where 2 doctors attempted a surgery for the removal of the battery, which turned out successful after the third surgeon’s attempt — and they were taken to yet another hospital. Allen said, "When we got into a room, it was total chaos. There were about 20 medics rushing in, and that is when I began to wonder if my son was going to die." Asa was kept on a ventilator for 6 days, and miraculously, things started to improve. Kasey wrote in her TikTok video’s caption, “He continued to make progress, and he lived through this!”
After 3 weeks of hospitalization, including physical therapy, up to 3 times a day, and relearning how to eat, Asa got to return home. However, things did not go back to normal for him as he has been constantly visiting the hospital since November 2023 to this day, to undergo a procedure called esophageal dilation, which helps stretch his esophagus and makes swallowing easier.
The emotional video has the Internet crying over Asa’s condition. Relating to Kasey, @palesa.radebe5 commented, “The way my son eats everything, I'm more than scared now.” @user23438201498133 sighed in relief, “I’m so glad this baby is ok. You are so lucky.” @kta13074 shared a tip: “God forbid any baby swallows these, I learnt a tip from some lady on TikTok who said if this happens to give them honey straight away because it adds a coating to the battery, giving you time to get to ER.”
@kaseyall My goal here is to spread awareness for #buttonbatteries. This is part of our story. Asa swallowed a #buttonbattery that fell out of a remote he dropped. The doctors didn’t think he had hope, but he prevailed. His battery was lodged for 9 hours. He came out on a ventilator and stayed in PICU for 6 days. He continued to make progress and he LIVED Through this!!! #buttonbatteryawarness #buttonbatterysurvivor #buttonbatterydanger #buttonbatteryaware #buttonbatteryingestion ♬ Very Sad - Enchan
You can follow Kasey Allen (@kaseyall) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.