The mother of two-year-old Harper-Lee Fanthorpe has issued a heartbroken plea to other parents, urging them to check their homes for button batteries.

The little girl died after swallowing a button battery from a remote control. She was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after she started vomiting blood, but doctors couldn’t save her.

Now her mum has told BBC Breakfast that she didn’t realise the dangers posed by button batteries and wants to raise awareness. She said:

“These five weeks have been absolute torture. I feel so lost. And all through a button battery that we didn’t know the dangers of.”

“It’s about awareness. Parents need to check. Check, check, check. Toys. Children’s books. They’re in everything.”

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If a big, powerful lithium coin cell battery – a thin button battery like a 5 pence piece – gets stuck in a small child’s food pipe, it can cause catastrophic internal bleeding and even death.

So it’s important to keep everyday objects with easily accessible batteries out of children’s reach, as well as spare and even ‘flat’ batteries.

Our poster helps you find button batteries in your home, so you can keep your children safe. Please share it as widely as possible.

Download and share our poster Button Batteries: Where are yours? [PDF]

Warning to parents after battery death of two-year-old.

Visit our button battery advice hub to find out more about the risks, read our top tips for keeping children safe, learn where you can find button batteries in your home, understand why ‘flat’ batteries are still dangerous and find out what to do in an emergency.

You can also find free images and resources to share.