The mother of the baby who swallowed a button battery – Amanda Hacche – speaks to SunLive reporter Zoe Hunter from Starship Children's Hospital.

Devon was just doing what any baby would do – he picked something up and put it straight into his mouth.

No parent would expect it could put their baby in hospital for almost the first year of his life – or even longer. No parent would imagine it could mean their baby may not be able to speak again.

The scary thing is, Tauranga mother Amanda Hacche doesn't know what the future holds for her darling Devon.

Her then eight-month-old baby was with a family member in mid-December when he swallowed a lithium-ion button battery which severely burned the inside of his throat.

The tiny battery caused major corrosive burns down his oesophagus. Doctors found a 5cm hole in Devon's trachea and a 2cm hole seriously damaging nerves around his vocal chords.

'Originally, they said it could be a coin but we think it was a battery,” says Amanda. 'I didn't know what that meant at the time. What parent does?”

Amanda's stopped counting how many surgeries Devon has had. But there'd be at least nine major surgeries on top of other procedures and countless visits to theatre. 'It just goes on and on,” she says.

Her now 10-month-old baby is no longer sedated and is responsive. But he's having trouble breathing on his own. Worst case scenario? She doesn't know and doctors don't either.

Amanda knows her baby is still a long way from back to normal. What will normal look like? 'I don't know,” she says. God only knows.”

'Without doubt he'll always have some issue with speech. Best case scenario is that he'll have a funny voice. Funny as in husky.

'Worst case is he'll struggle to completely form words, which means he won't really have speech – and that's only if he learns how to independently breathe for himself.”

Amanda was on a work trip in Auckland when it happened - the first time she'd left her baby boy.

She came home at around 10.30pm on December 15 to her sleeping baby. Later that night Devon became unsettled.

'He kept waking up,” says Amanda. 'It just wasn't like him. The next day I was watching him and I thought he must have been getting a new tooth through.

'He was grumpy and started to get a snotty nose by the afternoon. I thought he was getting a cold.”

The next day, doctors diagnosed bronchiolitis. Amanda disagreed. Devon's hefty cough suggested something else.

'He was wheezing and really pulling and struggling to get breath in. He sounded like an emphysemic old man. That's what it reminded me of.

'That night I walked around all night with him on my shoulder. He didn't sleep at all.”

Heading to the doctors again, Amanda changed direction towards Tauranga Hospital. 'I don't know why, but I just did it,” says Amanda. Perhaps mothers' instincts kicked in.

On December 19 an X-Ray revealed a 22.32 battery – a similar size to a 10 cent coin – lodged in Devon's oesophagus. 'My first thoughts were: ‘Well, when did he do that?”

The battery was removed that day. 'If they didn't remove it then, he wouldn't have made it.”

Amanda and Devon were flown by rescue helicopter to Auckland's Starship Children's Hospital, where she has stayed by her son's side ever since.

How are you? That's a loaded question for Amanda.

What's she supposed to say? Does she tell the truth – or resort to the generic answer of 'I'm fine”.

She's not fine. Far from it.

The truth is there's been moments where she breaks down and cries. She feels lost and sometimes like it's all too much. But giving up isn't an option.

'You just do what you've got to do,” she says. 'You just carry on. Your child needs you - end of story.”

Amanda has two other children: a daughter aged five and a 15-year-old son, who are staying with her and going to school at Ronald McDonald House. 'So I can't afford to fall to bits.”

If Devon can carry on, she can too.

He's a determined little man. Before the incident, Devon was 'blowing away” all his milestones.

'He was crawling at six-and-a-half months,” says Amanda. 'He was pulling himself to standing and even starting to take tentative steps all before he turned eight-months.”

He hasn't changed. 'He's very strong-willed, energetic and a fighter,” says Amanda. 'He's still this happy, smiley baby.”

Amanda wants to warn other parents about the dangers of batteries and babies. Was she aware of them? 'No. I thought the button battery was the equivalent to swallowing a coin or a bit of a metal toy. But no – it's far, far worse than that.”

Amanda says if a child swallows a battery, it could do significant damage in just two hours.

'You don't have time to muck around. If you think that your child may have swallowed something, go to the hospital straight away and get an x-ray.”

She urges parents to search for batteries in their house and make sure they're secured. 'The biggest thing is to know where they are.”

It seems a straightforward message but her message has gone worldwide, hitting media as far away as Singapore.

'I'm overwhelmed. I mean I'm just a mum,” says Amanda.

'But if I get the message out to one person and one baby is saved the fate that Devon's been through – and if one family doesn't have to go through the devastation we have – then telling the story and giving the warning has been well worth it.”

A Givealittle page has been set up to help raise funds for the family to cover living and medical expenses.

Amanda plans to use the money to fund surgery options if Devon's speech doesn't spontaneously come back.

For now, she's just taking it one day at a time.

'We don't know how long this is going to go on for but what I do know is it's not going to end quickly.”

According to The Battery Controlled website, coin-sized lithium battery-related child injury is an emerging issue in New Zealand.

From 2011-2013, the National Poisons Centre has received 175 calls regarding children under the age of six swallowing or inserting batteries in their nose and ears.

Some 63 children have also been treated at the Starship Children's Health Emergency Department from March 2009 to February 2012. Children under six represent the greatest risk.

When a coin-sized lithium button battery gets stuck in a child's throat, the saliva triggers an electrical current that can severely burn the oesophagus in as little as two hours.

Symptoms may be similar to other childhood illnesses, such as coughing, drooling and discomfort.

When x-rayed, the battery can be mistaken for a coin. Once burning begins, damage can continue even after the battery is removed.

If a coin-sized button battery is swallowed, follow these steps:

Go to the nearest hospital emergency department immediately. Tell doctors and nurses that it might be a coin-sized button battery.

If possible, provide the medical team with the identification number found on the battery's pack.

Do not let the child eat or drink until an x-ray can determine if a battery is present.

Do not induce vomiting.