This. This is why you can never be too careful around babies.

It was the first time this mother had left her eight-month old baby and while she was away one simple action changed his life forever.

She was away from Devon for only a few hours. It was the first time she had left her eight-month old baby since he was born but her human resources and employment law business was booming and she was needed in Auckland for the day.

Last December Amanda Hacche left Devon in her home town of Tauranga safe with a family member  – she was travelling two hours to Auckland.

He was happy and healthy, surrounded by his cousins and big sister.

Amanda, a mother-of-three picked up her baby boy later that day and noticed he was unusually unsettled.

She visited the doctor the next morning after a night of wheezing, he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and given asthma medicine but Amanda’s instincts told her it was more.

After three days she insisted on an X-ray and doctors were stunned and horrified with what they found.

Devon had a lithium-ion battery lodged in his throat. Unbeknown to his babysitters he had done what every baby does – put a strange object in his mouth, but this one had the potential to be fatal.

For Amanda it was the beginning of a battle she never imagined she would be fighting.

The lodged battery had caused major internal corrosive burns.

Speaking to Amanda said that the acids, excretions and moisture amplifies the electric charge of the battery which actually increased corrosion.

“While the battery had been lodged low in his oesophagus it had actually corroded the tissue right through and caused a hole in oesophagus right through to his trachea.”

Two months on, and Devon has had 11 operations to repair burnt tissue in his trachea.

“We can’t leave hospital, he can’t breathe,” she said

Amanda told TV3 “The worst case scenario is if he is not able to breathe independently on his own and if he can’t breathe independently on his own he can’t speak”

“It’s been a harrowing, nightmarish rollercoaster.”

She is speaking out calling for all button batteries to be secured.

Have you ever given your car keys to a baby for distraction? I did this yesterday in the school playground in an attempt to soothe a neighbour’s crying baby. Little did I know what I handed him could have been a deadly weapon, literally.

These tiny lithium batteries are everywhere,

In car remotes, kids toys, watches and bedside clocks, in Ipad docks and electric toothbrushes, in brightly coloured singing birthday cards and in calculators, thermometers and kitchen scales. In every room of your home, in every car.

Kidsafe say that least four children per week present to an emergency department with an injury related to a button battery and that children under five years old represent the greatest risk.

For Devon the battle ahead is a long one.

His mother’s family and friends have started a fundraising page to help with his medical costs and where well-wishers can leave messages of support.

Amanda is currently living at Ronald McDonalds house with her six-year old daughter so they can be constantly by Devon’s side.

So far they have raised over $20,000.

The page says, “Devon now faces an uncertain future and years of medical treatment (at least 8 months in hospital followed by 3 years plus of further treatment).

Amanda says she never wants another parent to go through what Devon has.

“If our story shows one parent the dangers and saves one family from this journey to hell that we’ve been on and the tortuous situation for Devon and what it means for his future then it’s worth it.”

To help Amanda and Devon you can visit this fundraising page here.