In a dramatic turn of events, a man swallowed one of his AirPods while asleep and only came to know regarding it after he had a medical checkup owing to the difficulty in breathing.
The incident occurred in Massachusetts state of the United States where a man, named Brad Gauthier, 38, who suddenly woke up struggling to breathe was stunned when doctors told him he had swallowed one of his AirPods in his sleep.
The blockage caused Gauthier’s throat to fill up with water as he tried to drink and made him feel as though he was choking. He was able to get the water out by leaning over and continued his day as normal.
During the day, it emerged that one of his wireless Apple headphones had gone missing as he could not find it despite a search. During the search, his family joked that, as he had a sore chest, perhaps he had swallowed it.
“My wife mentioned it when I came in and we laughed about it, but something just clicked and I got a weird sinking feeling that I’d swallowed it in my sleep,” he said adding that at that moment, he decided to seek medical help.
Hospital staff first suggested that the food consumed by him could be the reason for discomfort in his chest, however, when they carried out an x-ray, it stunned them completely.
“It was pretty funny when she [the hospital worker] left the room I could hear a bit of chatter outside – ‘No it couldn’t be?”
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‘She came back in, looks at me, and says: ‘I’ll be damned, you swallowed it.’
The endoscopy to remove the offending AirPod was not without risks as doctors warned that the device could become dislodged and enter his stomach or lung passageway.
However, the procedure went smooth and Gauthier was able to have a meal shortly afterward and even return home to work.
