WORCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Worcester man had a bizarre experience this week involving a cordless headphone that ended up requiring emergency surgery.
Brad Gauthier went to bed Monday night listening to music with his Apple Airpods in his ears.
He woke up Tuesday morning, and one of the earbuds was missing. Then, something very odd happened.
"I went to get a sip of water, and when I started drinking, it literally filled up my esophagus to the point that I started choking," he said. "I leaned over and had the water drain out. It was a very strange sensation and unpleasant, but I just attributed it to having a really dry throat, or something like that."
Brad's wife and son joked that maybe he had swallowed one of the wireless earbuds in his sleep. They took him to an urgent care to get an x-ray, and lo and behold, they were right.
"Smack dab in the middle of my chest, there was the Airpod," he said. "Upside down, wedged into my esophageal wall."
Gauthier had to have an emergency endoscopy to remove the earbud. He said he learned a valuable and obvious lesson.
"Well first off, to not sleep with wireless headphones anymore," he said.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe reports:
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Written by Brit Smith
(Photo: Getty Images)