Brenna George had a face that would make anyone smile.
"She was a beautiful, happy, healthy baby girl and she was and always will be our true joy," said mother Cara George.
When baby Brenna was just a 18-months-old, she swallowed a lithium battery and the internal injuries killed her.
"We scoured our house and we have no idea where it came from," said father Terry George.
The round battery could have come from anywhere throughout the home.
"Bathroom scales, car remotes, remotes for your automatic garage door openers," said Colleen Driscoll, from the International Association for Child Safety.
Even those popular music cards.
"They are actually pretty dangerous," said Dr. James Saperstone, a Guilderland Pediatrician.
Dr. Saperstone says lithium batteries are the most commonly swallowed item in kids under the age of five.
"It's almost an emergency and we need to know. They have to get an x-ray to see if it's in there or in the intestine," he said.
If it passes through the body, children are typically fine.
"But if it gets stuck they can leech out their toxic acid and burn holes which is not good," said Dr. Saperstone.
On top of the battery itself leaking, a study by the National Capital Poison Center found that the batteries can also generate a current inside the child's body, hydrolyzing tissue fluid.
"It would be like dropping drain opener in tiny little drops into your child's esophagus," said Dr. Toby Litovitz, from the National Capital Poison Center.
The Poison Center's website cites there are about 3,500 cases of battery ingestion each year, including 15 deaths, and 80 cases of severe injury.
"So serious they've ended up with breathing tubes, feeding tubes," said Dr. Litovitz.
"I wasn't aware of that," said Laura Wilder, a mother from Albany. "She puts everything in her mouth in reach."
"It is scary because every toy now has batteries," said Brenda Larios, another mother from Albany.
Experts say there are some safeguards you can take like leaving batteries sealed until you use them and making sure the batteries are in tight. If there aren't screws on the back to keep it sealed, they suggest tape.
"You have to study more the things you buy," said Larios.
The George's still don't know where Brenna found the battery that killed her, but they are hoping her story can save others.
"Our only hope is to save lives and if we can give one child his or her future and spare one family this unimaginable pain and devastation then we'll be doing something for her," said Cara George.
Advocates say battery companies are pretty good about putting warnings on packaging. But they want to see more warning labels on products that use lithium batteries.
