A stepmother claims her friend’s barbecue nearly killed her when she swallowed wire bristles from a cleaning brush hidden in her kebab – puncturing her own throat and leaving her to cough up $12,000 in medical bills.
It took nine months, multiple surgeries, 28 days without a voice and a team of doctors to have it removed. Now she is warning others about the ‘dangerous’ cleaning devices.
Jessica Doster of Indianapolis, Indiana immediately knew something was wrong after she ate a chicken shish kebab at a friend’s barbecue, but thought it was a stuck piece of food that left her gasping for breath.
However, as the pain worsened, the 35-year-old visited the emergency room that evening, but doctors simply told her that she had most likely “scratched her throat.”
Barely able to breathe or swallow whole food, Jessica lost six pounds in less than a week because of the foreign object secretly lurking in her throat.
Jessica Doster, 35, from Indianapolis, Indiana claims her friend’s barbecue nearly killed her when she swallowed wire bristles from a cleaning brush hidden in her kebab
Jessica was left with a scar after the operation to remove the stringy hair stuck in her throat
After days of excruciating pain, her stepmother visited an ENT specialist who told her she had most likely swallowed a bristle from a wire brush used to clean a barbecue grill.
An X-ray and CT scan confirmed the doctor’s suspicions, but medics opted not to perform the risky procedure to remove the one-inch metal wire for eight months because it had punctured Jessica’s esophagus.
Five years after the incident, the healthcare administrator is still feeling the consequences of what happened and is calling for all wire brushes to be removed from the shelves.
Jessica said, “I took a few bites [of my shish kebab] and immediately knew something was wrong.
‘I thought there was something in my throat. There was a lot of pressure at the bottom of my neck.
‘I had to stop eating immediately. I couldn’t swallow. I could sip water and whisper words. I knew something was very wrong.
‘Now we know that nerve punctured my esophagus. I couldn’t eat solid food. I started having terrible back pain that radiated to my back. I was now gasping for air as I breathed.
‘I was afraid I would die in my sleep. I went home from the hospital and the pain was unbearable.
Barely able to breathe or swallow whole food, Jessica lost six pounds in less than a week due to the foreign object secretly lurking in her throat (pictured with her husband Jason Doster, 36)
An X-ray and CT scan confirmed that a metal bristle punctured her esophagus, but a four-hour procedure to retrieve the wire was unsuccessful and left Jessica unable to speak for 28 days.
After six months of living with the wire in her throat, Jessica experienced renewed pain in her throat and opted to undergo further surgery in January 2020, despite a ‘high chance’ of failure.
She recalled: ‘I thought I was going to die. I was rushed to an ENT doctor and he couldn’t see anything, I immediately started crying.’
‘I had lost a significant amount of weight at that point. I hadn’t eaten for six days, I couldn’t even eat jelly. I could only drink broth or water.’
After explaining that her pain started after she ate grilled chicken, an ENT specialist told Jessica that she had most likely swallowed a string from a barbecue brush.
An X-ray and CT scan confirmed that a metal bristle punctured her esophagus, but a four-hour procedure to retrieve the wire was unsuccessful and left Jessica unable to speak for 28 days.
Jessica said: ‘When I went back for my post-op appointment I was told they would leave it in my throat.
“He said people live with shrapnel in their bodies all the time and my body will adapt to that.
‘No surgeon wanted to go back in there. My vocal cords were so damaged by the operation that they thought I would paralyze my vocal cords if I had another operation.’
After six months of living with the wire in her throat, Jessica experienced renewed pain in her throat and opted to undergo further surgery in January 2020, despite a ‘high chance’ of failure.
In the photo: the string of hair that was stuck in Jessica’s throat for nine months
Jessica still has a hoarse voice from the incident — and had to pay $12,000 in medical bills to pay for all her treatments
Jessica said: ‘The doctor said I was lucky to be alive because the wire was actually against my carotid artery at this point.
‘It was a huge relief when they found it and got it out. It was actually 2cm long, almost the size of a sewing needle.”
Jessica still has a hoarse voice from the incident – and had to pay $12,000 in medical bills to pay for all her treatments.
She said: ‘I’m so scared that this could happen to children and they wouldn’t be able to explain what was happening to them. This is not as uncommon as people think. It’s a freak accident, but there are stories worse than mine.
‘Luckily all my friends and family got rid of all their wire brushes after what happened to me. I don’t understand why they are still available in stores.
‘They are very dangerous and should be absolutely banned. There are other options for cleaning your grill than this wire brush. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.”
According to a 2016 study, between 2002 and 2014, about 1,700 people went to the emergency room after ingesting wire bristles in grilled foods (stock image)
She went on to detail the extensive list of appointments, time and money the lengthy process took, as well as the mental trauma she endured, such as nightmares, panic attacks and a diagnosis of PTSD.
She also used social media to raise awareness of what happened to her earlier this month.
Jessica wrote on Facebook, “It’s May, which means grilling/BBQ season is in full swing. Remember to never use wire brushes to clean your grills.
‘At the age of 29, I was told I was lucky to be alive by my surgeon who had finally removed a wire bristle from a grill brush – the size of a horsehair – from my throat.
‘It had punctured my esophagus behind my thyroid, traveled through my cova strings and impacted my carotid artery. It took nine months and a team of doctors to locate and remove the wire.”
She went on to detail the extensive list of appointments, time and money the lengthy process took, as well as the mental trauma she endured, such as nightmares, panic attacks and a diagnosis of PTSD.
According to a 2016 study, between 2002 and 2014, about 1,700 people went to the emergency room after swallowing string hairs in grilled foods.
And while it may seem like a small number, it only takes into account cases where patients were admitted to the ER.
The research shows that injuries from grill brushes have mainly been reported in injuries to the mouth and throat, but in rare cases some people have suffered stomach and intestinal injuries.
Instead of using a wire grill brush, experts recommend opting for a non-wire brush, or a cleaning block, stone or grill side to keep your grill clean and avoid trips to the emergency room.