NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Sydney toddler undergoes major surgery after swallowing button battery

news.com.au
13 May, 2020 07:30 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The X-ray revealed the everyday item Mila had swallowed.

The X-ray revealed the everyday item Mila had swallowed.

All it took was Emily Neilan turning her back for 60 seconds on her then 10-month-old daughter Mila for their lives to change dramatically.

The 25-year-old first-time mum from Sydney was folding clothes on her bed on January 5 with her curious toddler, who had recently become fascinated with opening cupboards, in the room with her.

READ MORE:
• Battery inflicts horror injury on Tauranga infant
• Baby Isabella Rees dies after swallowing battery, warnings missed
• Fighting for life: More surgery for baby who swallowed battery

Unbeknown to Neilan, Mila managed to chew through the packaging of a four-pack of button batteries, swallowing one of the 20mm discs in the seconds she had her back turned.

"After she had swallowed it she put the packet back in the drawer, closed the drawer and has gone on about her morning, watching The Wiggles," Neilan told news.com.au.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Afterwards Neilan noticed Mila seemed off and a "bit tired", refusing her bottle – but she put it down to her daughter just being at a fussy age.

Neilan settled her down for her morning nap and gave Mila to her sister-in-law to babysit so she could go to a meeting with photographers for her upcoming wedding to fiance Dane Toohey, which was scheduled for February 29.

Emily Neilan was folding clothes when her daughter Mila managed to swallow a button battery in the same room as her.
Emily Neilan was folding clothes when her daughter Mila managed to swallow a button battery in the same room as her.

When the meeting ended two hours later and Neilan saw Mila, she knew immediately something was wrong.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Not only had Mila not woken up from her nap but she was "like a ragdoll" and had "no reflexes" when they did try and rouse her.

"When she brought her into me she was very, very lethargic. She had almost no reflexes in her arms and legs, she had almost become like a ragdoll, so her eyes were open but in terms of her limbs I couldn't put her down and sit her up on her own," Neilan said.

"She wasn't pulling herself up on couches. I just immediately went into a bit of a panic and said to Dane, 'We've got to get in the car. We've got to go to the ER'."

Neilan and Toohey rushed their daughter to The Children's Hospital in Westmead, Sydney, where doctors immediately began trying to work out what was wrong with Mila.

"I'm thinking to myself, has she bumped her head?" Neilan said.

"I'm going through all the scenarios in my head – has she fallen over? Has she hit her head on something that's caused a neurological issue? Honestly I had no idea what had gone on."

Doctors decided to send Mila for an X-ray and within five minutes Neilan was called in to take a look at what they had found.

There "clear as day" was a 20mm disc – a button battery – lodged in Mila's throat.

"Once we had worked out it was a battery I called my sister-in-law and said, 'Hey can you go into our room and can you go into our bedside table and tell me is there a packet of batteries in there with one missing?'" Neilan said.

"And she sent me a photo of the packet and there was one missing."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mila was then rushed into surgery where doctors managed to remove the battery.

But they had to install a gastronomy button, as the damage to her oesophagus meant she couldn't ingest food or liquids orally.

The X-ray revealed a 20mm button battery lodged in Mila's throat.
The X-ray revealed a 20mm button battery lodged in Mila's throat.

Mila spent the next fortnight in the intensive care unit before doctors performed a second surgery as the damage from the battery had caused her windpipe and oesophagus to join together.

During the 12-hour surgery, skin grafts were taken from Mila's neck and behind her ear to seal the inside of her oesophagus.

The major surgery required Mila to be intubated and put in a coma for 12 days afterwards as she had constant lung collapses and her heart even stopped for nine seconds as she recovered from the surgery.

But today, Neilan said that it would be hard to know Mila had been through such a difficult time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While Mila will need more check-ups and care in the future, the now 15-month-old has made a remarkable recovery.

"You look at her today and you wouldn't even know that she has been through something so traumatic," Neilan said.

Mila's time in hospital meant that the couple had to cancel their wedding and Neilan has described the whole experience as the "most traumatic event in my life".

Ms Neilan and Mr Toohey cancelled their wedding as Mila recovered in hospital.
Ms Neilan and Mr Toohey cancelled their wedding as Mila recovered in hospital.

But she is incredibly grateful to the hard work of staff at The Children's Hospital for keeping Mila alive.

"I just had my second Mother's Day and it was so emotional for me, because I may not have been able to celebrate Mother's Day the way that we did," she said.

Neilan encouraged other parents to be vigilant around batteries, especially those in packaging which claimed to be childproof.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"For me now you can never be too cautious, ever," she said.

"And trust your instincts always, because you as a mother know when something isn't right."

How to keep safe

• Search your home and any place your child goes for gadgets that may contain button batteries.

• Secure the battery devices out of sight and reach of children.

• Keep loose batteries locked away.

• Share this information with friends and family.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• If a battery is ingested call 111 or go to an A&E immediately.

Source: www.thebatterycontrolled.co.nz

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Opinion

Kiwi mum: 'I regret choosing career over motherhood’

10 May 05:00 PM
Lifestyle

How to make the classic Croque Madame

09 May 11:00 PM
Premium
Lifestyle

Mother's Day: What we miss when our children leave home

09 May 09:00 PM

Sponsored: Top tier tiles - faux or refresh

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Kiwi mum: 'I regret choosing career over motherhood’

Kiwi mum: 'I regret choosing career over motherhood’

10 May 05:00 PM

Jenni Mortimer on the shame of maternal regrets and climbing the corporate ladder.

How to make the classic Croque Madame

How to make the classic Croque Madame

09 May 11:00 PM
Premium
Mother's Day: What we miss when our children leave home

Mother's Day: What we miss when our children leave home

09 May 09:00 PM
Premium
The flight of the butterflies: Photographer Deborah Kelland's emotional journey through loss

The flight of the butterflies: Photographer Deborah Kelland's emotional journey through loss

09 May 08:00 PM
Sponsored: How much is too much?
sponsored

Sponsored: How much is too much?

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP