A Utah mother-of-three was plunged into her worst nightmare earlier this year after discovering that her seven-year-old son had accidentally swallowed a lethal button battery.
In fact, when Gina Bogdanich left her schoolboy son Knox with their nanny for the day whilst she ventured off to work, she had no idea that within a matter of hours, the youngster would be undergoing surgery needed to save his life.
Knox and his nanny had been exploring their local park one day earlier this year, when he spotted something shiny laying on the ground.
Advert
Unaware that the silver coin-sized disc could possibly cause him any harm, the boy was intrigued by his discovery and opted to place it onto his tongue to determine whether it might 'zap' him.
Seconds later, however, Knox began to panic after realising that he'd accidentally swallowed the silver circle, immediately alerting his nanny.
Realising that the child may be referring to a potentially-fatal button battery - which had, at this point, become lodged in the youngster's throat - the carer rushed him home to his 41-year-old mother, Gina, who'd returned home.
Advert
Horrified by the days events, Gina immediately attempted to make her son vomit the battery back up, rightfully afraid that the disc reaching Knox's stomach could kill him.
Sadly, her efforts were to no avail, and the mortified mother rushed her son to Salt Lake City's Primary Children's Hospital, where he was immediately x-rayed and fed honey to coat his throat.
Recalling the horror, Gina later told press: "Luckily, because we have spoken about the dangers of button batteries, he told the nanny straight away and then she called me and then he came home.
Advert
"It was more worrying because the battery was live. It went from an emergency to a trauma one response. Within minutes we were in the trauma bay and Knox had started to experience pain."
She continued: "It started to hurt, which is what we know was burning and he could feel right where it was lodged. He was so upset and nervous."
Images from the medical analysis showed the battery lodged perfectly in the little boys throat, and doctors quickly determined that Knox needed to go under the knife in order to have his life saved.
The boy remained in hospital for three days following the successful surgery, where he was forced to eat using a feeding tube and unable to swallow any solids for five weeks.
Advert
Paediatric nurse Gina explained: "The ENT doctor came and said it was much worse than she had expected. She showed me the battery and it was completely black and charred, and when Knoxx had found it was silver.
"The battery had burned in his throat and he had suffered a third-degree burn in his throat. It's just a heart-wrenching thought that something so simple and little can cause so much damage in a matter of an hour."
Now, Gina is using her nightmare experience to raise awareness in other parents about the importance of speaking with their children about the appearances and risks of potentially-deadly batteries.
Advert
"There is a possibility he could be left scarred for life, it all just depends on how it heals," she bravely said.
"We've been able to pull the tube out and they [doctors] said the most scarring takes place between six to eight weeks.
"The advice I would give to parents is don't have button batteries in the house or anywhere near children.
"Obviously Knox found the battery at the park and you can't protect them from everything but you need to talk to your kids about the dangers of them.
"It could be fatal. Kids die from swallowing these all the time because of the damage it causes."
Gina concluded by emphasising that the 'main thing' other mums and dads should know is to rush their children to the hospital in any case whereby they believe they may have swallowed something dangerous.
Rhianna Benson