LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A Lubbock mother who lost her daughter after the toddler swallowed a button battery has helped bring new safety technology to market.
Trista Hamsmith has been working with Energizer for the last four years on a new product release following the death of her daughter, Reese.
In October 2020, 18-month-old Reese Hamsmith started wheezing and coughing. Her doctor sent her home with antibiotics. A second trip to the emergency room revealed that Reese had swallowed a button battery, which lodged in her esophagus and continued to burn through tissue even after it was surgically removed.
She died seven weeks later.
New battery technology prevents burns
The new product is called Energizer Ultimate Child Shield. If the battery is in a child’s mouth, it will dye their mouth blue to alert parents that a child has eaten something and to alert medical professionals that it may have been a battery.
“If Reese had swallowed this battery, we would still have her,” Hamsmith said.
The new Energizer technology and its Ultimate Shield prevents burns from taking place, according to Hamsmith.
What had long been a dream for Energizer was energized by the family’s experience and the many trips that Hamsmith made to the company’s St. Louis headquarters to promote Reese’s Purpose, the non-profit that evolved from her daughter’s death to help save other families from the same tragedy.
“And I remember watching her lay in bed sedated, thinking Reese, you have a purpose,” Hamsmith said. “And little did I know how big her purpose was. It wasn’t as I envisioned it, but isn’t that how God works always?”
Federal law passed, advocacy continues
Hamsmith took her fight to Washington, D.C., where Congressman Jodey Arrington helped pass Reese’s Law, which requires federal safety standards for button battery packaging.
But the old batteries are still out there in light-up storybooks, games with sound, screens, remote controls, singing cards, flameless candles and other products.
“So it’s all about education to parents, caregivers everyone,” Hamsmith said.
With the official unveiling of the new Energizer technology, the new batteries are available at Walmart and coming soon to other stores.
Reese’s resting place is at Peaceful Gardens in Lubbock. Hamsmith said Reese’s Purpose lives everywhere because child safety will always be an issue worth fighting for.
“Things like magnets, water beads, furniture tip-overs. So, for me, I guess Reese gave me a different purpose in life that I guess was the plan all along,” Hamsmith said. “So it’s far from over.”
If a child swallows a button battery, give them honey at regular intervals on the way to the hospital if they are older than 12 months. That will help coat the battery until it can be removed and hopefully there will be less damage.
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