A barbecue party in the USA almost ended in death for a woman after she swallowed a metal bristle. The treatment cost her around 12,000 dollars, the equivalent of over 11,000 euros.
The Daily Mail reports on what was initially a very relaxed barbecue evening that almost ended in death for Jessica Doster from Indianapolis. A metal bristle that had broken off a cleaning brush was stuck in a chicken skewer. Jessica is left with a hoarse voice and a financial hole of over 11,000 euros.
According to the Daily Mail, Jessica Doster immediately realised that something was wrong. She initially thought that a piece of food had become stuck in her throat. However, when the pain got worse, the 35-year-old went to the emergency room that night. Doctors told her that she had probably “scratched her throat”. But the pain remained. Jessica told the newspaper that she was afraid she would die in her sleep.
The next day, the woman could barely breathe or swallow solid food and lost a huge amount of weight in less than a week. After several days of unbearable pain, she consulted an ENT specialist, who explained to her that she had most likely swallowed a bristle from a wire brush. An X-ray and a CT scan confirmed the doctor’s suspicion.
But the diagnosis does not mean a cure. The doctors decided against surgical removal. The risks involved were too high. Jessica lived for nine months with the wire in her throat that had pierced her esophagus. The woman describes to the Daily Mail how it took a dramatic deterioration in her condition and 28 days without a voice before the operation could be carried out.
Five years after the incident, the health manager is still suffering from the effects of the incident. The bristle got stuck in her throat and damaged her vocal cords. Today, Jessice is calling in the Daily Mail for all wire brushes to be removed from the shelves: “It’s a random accident, but there are stories even worse than mine. I don’t understand how they can still be sold in shops.”
A study from 2016, reported on by the “Ärzte-Zeitung”, shows an increase in similar cases. The survey found that between 2002 and 2014, around 1,700 people were admitted to the emergency room after swallowing metal bristles in grilled food.
Serious damage to the head and neck area is not unlikely, and the small size of the swallowed parts makes removal very complex. In individual cases, the swallowed bristles have even migrated into the abdominal tract and have caused perforations there.
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