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.<\/p>\n
Trista Hamsmith has been working with Energizer for the last four years on a new product release following the death of her daughter, Reese.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
She died seven weeks later.<\/p>\n
New battery technology prevents burns<\/p>\n
The new product is called Energizer Ultimate Child Shield. If the battery is in a child\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Reese had swallowed this battery, we would still have her,\u201d Hamsmith said.<\/p>\n
The new Energizer technology and its Ultimate Shield prevents burns from taking place, according to Hamsmith.<\/p>\n
What had long been a dream for Energizer was energized by the family\u2019s experience and the many trips that Hamsmith made to the company\u2019s St. Louis headquarters to promote Reese\u2019s Purpose, the non-profit that evolved from her daughter\u2019s death to help save other families from the same tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I remember watching her lay in bed sedated, thinking Reese, you have a purpose,\u201d Hamsmith said. \u201cAnd little did I know how big her purpose was. It wasn\u2019t as I envisioned it, but isn\u2019t that how God works always?\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal law passed, advocacy continues<\/p>\n
Hamsmith took her fight to Washington, D.C., where Congressman Jodey Arrington helped pass Reese\u2019s Law, which requires federal safety standards for button battery packaging.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s all about education to parents, caregivers everyone,\u201d Hamsmith said.<\/p>\n
With the official unveiling of the new Energizer technology, the new batteries are available at Walmart and coming soon to other stores.<\/p>\n
Reese\u2019s resting place is at Peaceful Gardens in Lubbock. Hamsmith said Reese\u2019s Purpose lives everywhere because child safety will always be an issue worth fighting for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings 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,\u201d Hamsmith said. \u201cSo it\u2019s far from over.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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