Bella's Story

In January 2015 everything changed. I was finishing up at a corporate function for work when I received a phone call saying Bella had been rushed to hospital. She suddenly become unwell, she was crying hysterically, started vomiting and collapsed.

I arrived at the hospital as the doctor was assessing her. Rob raised concerns that she may have swallowed something as she had been playing outside at the park with him and Lochlan when she became unwell.

The doctor believed she had signs of a virus and she should be better in a few days. For the next few days Bella’s symptoms became worse. She had a high fever, was lethargic and she refused to eat. When changing her nappy, I noticed she had black stools so we returned to the hospital.Her fever continued, her blood pressure was elevated and Bella was diagnosed with a urine infection, prescribed antibiotics and sent home.

A few days later Bella continued to refuse food and still had dark stools. We returned to the hospital for the 3rd time. Bella was reviewed but as her fever had reduced, and her blood pressure was within normal range. Doctors were satisfied due to her drinking fluids, Bella were improving and we were again sent home. Bella continued to be unwell and learned a new word, OUCH.

At 5am on the morning of 4th of February 2015, I woke to the sound of Bella coughing and crying out mum. This was unusual as Bella would normally sleep for 12 hrs. I went into her room to find her and her cot completely

saturated in blood. I quickly rushed her to the hospital for the 4th time. 

The doctors tried to convince me Bella had a nose bleed, but I knew it wasn’t. I insisted that Bella had been vomiting blood.An x-ray was preformed revealing a round object lodged in Bella’s oesophagus. Initially the doctors believed it was a coin the size of a 10-cent piece. They explained that it is possible that the coin irritated the lining of her oesophagus causing bleeding.

At this point a blood test was conducted, revealing Bella needed an urgent blood transfusion due to the amount of blood loss. I wrapped my arms around Bella to help hold her still while the nurse attempted to get Intravenous access. It was then that Bella screamed in pain and then suffered a mass bleed directly from her aorta causing her to go into cardiac arrest. I was pulled away from Bella’s bedside, covered in her blood, so she could be revived. The team brought her back, but only for a few minutes. Just long enough for me to hear her calling out ‘Mum’. Bella arrested again and passed away.

A few days later the coroner confirmed Bella hadn’t swallowed a coin, in fact it was a button battery. 

After Bella Died:

The first question I ask was… How could this have happened? How did I not know Bella had swallowed a button battery and where did the battery come from? Was it from my home? Was it from someone else’s home? Or was it from the park the day she got sick?

I spent days and many sleepless nights searching my home for a missing button battery and turned up nothing. I even asked friends and family who Bella had visited to search their homes for a missing battery and still nothing. 

This brought to my attention just how many products contained button batteries.

Kitchen and bathroom scales, musical greeting cards, baby thermometer and even my car keys and garage remote. I was shocked at how many there were and how easy it was to access the battery compartment.

After Bella passed away, I struggled to tell people that she had died from swallowing a button battery. I felt ashamed.

I felt that I failed as a parent to protect Bella and to save her. I was so worried about being judged and what others might think of me as a mother. I was so careful. I had completely baby proofed my entire house. I had locks on all the cupboards and draws, I had safety plug in all the power outlets, safety protectors on the oven, and I stored my batteries in a sealed container up high on a shelf above my fridge…and I still lost Bella.