Two children have died and five more have suffered life-changing injuries after swallowing lithium button batteries.
Coles Miller is adding its voice to the campaign to raise awareness of the danger posed by these tiny silver batteries found in everything from watches to toys to car keys.
It is easy to take these flat silver cells for granted because they are commonplace and look so harmless.
But young children have mistaken them for sweets and swallowed them – with swift and catastrophic results.
Swallowing a battery starts an electrical current which causes sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) to build up and burn through the oesophagus (food pipe) and cause very severe internal bleeding.
Two hours is all it takes. The batteries do not have to be chewed or bitten open. Simply swallowing one is enough to start the deadly chain of events.
The two children who died and five severely injured were all aged 12 months to six years old and were all from the Greater Manchester area.
Coles Miller is supporting the call by Greater Manchester paediatrician Dr Kate Parkins to raise awareness across the UK.
Fifteen per cent of the thousands of personal injury cases handled by Coles Miller involve children. Most are due to accidents on the road or at adventure theme park attractions.
It is tragic to see the injuries suffered by the children, many of whom are very young – all the more so because so many of these accidents could have been prevented.
We must all do everything we can to raise awareness of the safety issues and prevent further tragedies from happening.
Find out more about our work in helping accident victims to claim compensation.
For more information, call Coles Miller Partner Adrian Cormack, a UK Legal 500 Recommended Lawyer who is the head of our Personal Injury department, 01202 673011.
