X-ray imaging reveals Apple AirPod lodged in patient’s esophagus
After struggling to swallow water recently, imaging during a Massachusetts man’s trip to an emergency provider revealed one of his wireless headphones lodged in his esophagus.
Bradford Gauthier woke up feeling normal last week, shoveled the snow, and grabbed a drink of water. But the first sip wouldn’t stay down, and he was forced to spit it up, the Worcester resident detailed in a Feb. 2 Facebook post.
One of his Apple AirPods also happened to be missing and upon visiting an emergency clinic for x-rays, imaging revealed the device stuck in his esophagus. Gauthier had an endoscopy to remove the device and he is now warning others about his experience.
“Be careful listening to wireless headphones when you fall asleep, you never know where they'll end up,” he wrote on Facebook. You can read more about his ordeal from the Associated Press below.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.