A segment in WWLP News 22 showed how a man from Massachusetts ended up with one AirPod in his esophagus.
Massachusetts resident Bradford Gauthier went home Monday after shoveling snow. He put in his AirPods and went to sleep. When he woke up the morning Gauthier felt a slight chest discomfort. He then went out and shoveled snow some more, and discovered he could drink a glass of water.
Family members joked how his missing AirPod could be the reason why he was experiencing the discomfort, and that he may have swallowed it in his sleep.
Bradford went for a trip to the ER and had an x-ray, which reveals a stuck AirPod in his esophagus. He then went for an emergency endoscopy and had the earphone removed.
Gauthier mentioned that the GI physician told him that he was lucky the lodged device didn’t cause severe discomfort or pain. He was told that sleeping with the wireless headphones can be a safety hazard.