'He has lost his left nipple and has a huge hole in his chest': Mom of toddler severely injured when a SWAT team detonated a flashbang grenade in his CRIB in botched search speaks out

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Wisconsin mother Alecia Phonesavanh and her 19-month-old son, Bounkham, were visiting her sister-in-law in Atlanta, Georgia
They were all asleep when police raided the home early Wednesday
SWAT officers threw a grenade, which landed in her baby's crib and exploded in his face
The child was seriously injured and was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital's burn unit where doctors placed him in a medically induced coma
Most photographs of the baby's burns are too graphic to show
Police said a multijurisdictional drug unit issued a warrant and organized the SWAT operation
Phonesavanh says no drugs were found in the raid, and the man they were looking for does not live at the address
Baby Bou Bou, as he is known, was only recently taken out of his induced coma
Doctors don't know if he has suffered permanent brain damage

Published: 19:57 EST, 27 June 2014 | Updated: 23:16 EST, 27 June 2014

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A mother whose young son nearly died after a SWAT team broke into the home where they were staying and threw a flashbang grenade in the sleeping child's crib has spoken out about abuse of power by police officers.

Alecia Phonesavanh was staying with her husband, their three daughters and their baby son Bounkham in the living room of her sister-in-law's home just outside of Atlanta after their Wisconsin home burnt down.

As the family slept, a SWAT team descended on the home, breaking down the door and throwing a flashbag grenade inside, which landed in 19-month-old Bounkham's crib.

Long road to recovery: Little Bou Bou (with his parents) has just come out of a medically induced coma and must now undertake rehabilitation

Horror: Little Bou Phonesavanh, pictured right before and left after, was severely injured by a grenade during a police raid in May

'Flashbang grenades were created for soldiers to use during battle. When they explode, the noise is so loud and the flash is so bright that anyone close by is temporarily blinded and deafened,' wrote Alecia Phonesavanh on Salon.com.

Police did not allow Phonesavanh to see her son, who was carried from the home by an officer and taken to hospital.

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All the Phonesavanhs could see of their son was a pool of blood on the pavement.

The child was seriously injured and placed in a medically induced coma in Grady Memorial Hospital's burn unit.

'He's in the burn unit. We go up to see him and his whole face is ripped open. He has a big cut on his chest,' Phonesavanh said. 'He's only 19 months old. He didn't do anything.'

A picture shows the charred portable crib. Most photographs of the baby's injuries are too graphic to share though one shows burns all over his face.

Cornelia Police Chief Rick Darby confirmed the raid took place at the home just before 3 a.m.

He said a multi-jurisdictional drug unit issued a warrant and organized the SWAT operation.

Family struggle: The Phonesavanh family had recently lost their home to a fire when a SWAT team threw a grenade in their baby son's crib

Sleeping baby: This picture shows the badly charred portable crib where Bou Bou was sleeping the night a SWAT team broke in and seriously injured him with a stun grenade

Baby Bou Bou, as he is known by his family, was only taken out of his induced coma three days ago. He still has a huge open wound on his chest that exposes his ribs, which Phonesavanh can't bring herself to look at.

'He has lost his left nipple from the explosion. He still has a pretty big hole in his chest. I personally have not looked at it. I don't think I could handle it. I would probably lose my mind as a mother,' she said told HuffPost.

Doctors are unable to tell the family whether Bou Bou has suffered any lasting brain damage. He has been transferred to another hospital for rehabilitation.

Scene: Police raided this Cornela, Georgia, home in the early hours of the morning as four children slept

Shocked: The child's mother, Alecia Phonesavanh, pictured, is in shock after what happened to her baby who is still recovering and may have suffered permanent brain damage

Phonesavanh says the SWAT team was looking for her husband's nephew, who doesn't live in the home. They searched for drugs in the home and did not find any.

The family has a webpage where people can donate to Bou Bou's rehabilitation and support the family's efforts to publicize the abuse of power by police officers that is happening all over the country.

'This is happening every day to people [who are] being relentlessly and unnecessarily militarized by police who think just because they're supposed to be upholding the law, they are above the law themselves,' Phonesavanh told Huffpost.

'It’s time to remind the cops that they should be serving and protecting our neighborhoods, not waging war on the people in them.'