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A 38-year-old man is warning other AirPod
users about the danger of swallowing the wireless ear buds,
after accidentally ingesting one in his sleep, and undergoing
surgery to have it removed.
Last Tuesday morning, after waking up in his home in Worcester,
Massachusetts, Brad Gauthier noticed that one of his AirPods was
missing. He had fallen asleep with them on, but he didn’t think
much of the loss, as AirPods falling off isn’t exactly unheard
of. Gauthier reportedly went about his day as usual, ignoring
the slight discomfort in his chest, but when he tried to drink a
glass of water, something strange happened.
As Brad Gauthier tried to have a drink of water, his throat
simply filled up and he started chocking. He was able to get the
water out by leaning forward, and carried on as if nothing had
happened, even clearing his driveway of snow, after a severe
blizzard. But the though of the missing AirPod started bugging
him again, especially since he couldn’t find it, even with the
help of his wife and son.
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“By that point, my son and wife . . . brought it up jokingly at first,
but it seemed too coincidental that I would be missing it when I knew I
went to bed with it, while I felt a distinct blockage in the center of
my chest,” Gauthier told 22 News.
Brad and his wife laughed about the idea of him accidentally swallowing
the wireless ear bud, but the more he thought about it, the more
plausible that explanation became. It explained the sudden discomfort in
his chest and the way he had choked on a drink of water earlier in the
day. After messing around for about 10 minutes thinking about it, he
decided that going to the hospital was a good idea.
“They were all jaws a slack, looking at this x-ray, on the screen where
you could see it in such clear definition. Fortunately, she was able to
get me right through an endoscopy center they’re affiliated with,” the
38-year-old told Caters News.
Doctors did warn the man that the procedure involved a risk of the
AirPod getting dislodged and then enter his stomach or his lung
passageway. Luckily, that didn’t happen, and Brad was able to go home
after the procedure.
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“I’m really lucky things happened the way they did and got it resolved
so quickly, along with it being wedged in the position that it was,”
Brad Gauthier said. “Had I inhaled it or it had gotten lodged or
constricted my airway that could have certainly been a significantly
more serious matter.”
Interestingly, it’s built-in speaker is still functional, but the
microphone was damaged during its unusual trip.
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