Australian medical professionals have issued an urgent warning to parents following a sharp rise in the number of young children swallowing button batteries. 

This year alone, two toddlers have undergone emergency surgery due to battery ingestion in South Australia, and authorities fear the situation could worsen.

One-year-old Adele recently endured a harrowing ordeal after swallowing a button battery. 

“The first whole week in ICU was… the biggest nightmare we could have,” mother Gintare Wilhelm said, while father Daniel said there were moments “that we thought she might not make it”.

Initially, Adele’s odd behaviour prompted her parents to seek medical attention. X-rays revealed that she had swallowed a button battery, which had lodged in her esophagus. 

The one-year-old underwent several emergency surgeries to remove the battery and treat the burns in her esophagus and now, after two months of recovery, she is doing well.

However, her parents are determined to raise awareness and urge others to take precautions.

“Baby-proof your home, double what you think you could, secure your button batteries, dispose of them correctly,” Daniel said.

Adele is one of two young children saved by medical staff this year after ingesting button batteries, prompting an urgent warning to other parents.

“Children can die from swallowing a button battery, if the burn is significant enough,” Dr Sonja Latzel, from Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital said.

The hospital has witnessed a spike in cases, with three incidents already recorded in the first three months of this year, compared to only three cases in the entire previous year.

“You will not be wasting our time if you suspect a battery has gone missing, and your children are retching or struggling to swallow, drooling and refusing to eat or drink,” Latzel said.