ST. LOUIS (KSDK) – Leighton Diaz, her five siblings and her parents were excited to gather Christmas Eve at their home in Aurora, Missouri, southwest of Springfield.
Within moments of the celebration, Leighton experienced a sudden scare.
“She had ran to the bathroom really quick to use the restroom, and in the time that she was in the restroom, she put the battery in her mouth,” Olivia Diaz, Leighton’s mother, described.
The frightened first grader accidentally swallowed a quarter-sized button battery.
It was for a watch Leighton’s grandmother gave her for her birthday in September.
Leighton was born with an underdeveloped esophagus.
“She came out instantly screaming and crying, saying that it was hurting,” Diaz remembered.
Her parents first rushed her to an Aurora hospital.
“It’s a small hospital. They don’t have the things they need to do it there,” Diaz said. “It was absolutely terrifying.”
There also wasn’t medical transportation available at the time, so the couple then hopped in their car with their daughter and drove four hours to St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
The button battery was lodged inside Leighton for seven hours.
Doctors at St. Louis Children’s Hospital immediately performed a procedure on Leighton.
Her worried parents were thrilled to hear that procedure went well.
“I think we’re going to have a good prognosis. My things is, I just want other parents to know about this,” Diaz said.
Button batteries are also commonly found in light-up Christmas toys and greeting cards.
Doctors say more than 3,000 children across the U.S. each year accidentally swallow them.
A pediatrician should be notified if it happens and the child should immediately get to the emergency room.
Doctors say the sooner the battery is removed, the less likely it will cause severe damage.
“We just want her better,” Diaz said.
Leighton’s grateful parents now call her their “Christmas miracle.”
“I’m hoping that Leighton, her esophagus, just finally heals and we get her home,” Diaz said.
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