A mom has issued an urgent warning to other parents after her daughter nearly died after eating a bacon and egg sandwich.
Kristen Saunders took to social media to share her daughter's harrowing encounter with a hidden danger lurking within her meal, one that very few are aware of.
In a heartfelt Facebook post, Saunders revealed that her nine-year-old daughter had accidentally swallowed a piece of wire from a barbecue brush, concealed within the roll she purchased at a local barbecue.
She revealed the dire consequences of eating the thin piece of metal, which had come off the brush used to clean the grill - and advised others to throw out their wire barbecue brushes to stop it happening to anyone else.
The consequences were nothing short of terrifying. "The wire pierced her oesophagus then pushed into the carotid artery of the neck," wrote the concerned mother, who hails from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
The severity of the injury was such that the young girl had to be urgently transported via helicopter from John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle to Westmead Hospital in Sydney.
Saunders explained that her daughter required "major vascular and cardiothoracic surgery then aspiration of brain abscesses, then another six weeks on IV antibiotics."
Speaking to ABC Newcastle radio station, Saunders recounted the terrifying events leading up to the emergency medical intervention. She explained: "She was munching away, then she started to feel like she was choking."
Despite a visit to their family doctor, the underlying issue remained undetected, and the nine-year-old soldiered on, participating in her school's athletics carnival, albeit with a sore throat and difficulty consuming solid foods.
It was only after her condition worsened that Saunders realized the gravity of the situation. "There was this one particular day I was at home with her, and all of a sudden, she was a bit confused answering questions," she recounted. The concerned mother knew immediate action was necessary and promptly contacted their doctor, who advised them to head straight to the hospital.
By the time they arrived at John Hunter Hospital, the young girl was stumbling, disoriented, and could not even recognize her own family.
A series of tests revealed brain abscesses, a shocking revelation that set off alarm bells. A last-minute CT scan then exposed a tiny piece of wire near her neck.
Saunders said: "There was a major infection in one of her arteries. They had to replace it, and there was a risk of all these different things, so that was pretty awful."
Fortunately, the surgery at Westmead Hospital was successful. The young girl made a remarkable recovery, given the circumstances.
"She actually had a phenomenal recovery, considering what it could have looked like and how it could have ended up, and she's doing really well now," her mother shared. "She's off all her antibiotics, she's back to school, she'll be back to sport soon. It could have been a lot worse."
Injuries such as these are not as uncommon as you'd imagine, as a 2016 study published in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery estimated that there were around 1,700 hospital visits related to wire barbecue grill brushes between 2002 and 2014, equating to around 140 cases per year.
Saunders has a vital message for parents, urging them to take action to protect their loved ones. She implores everyone to "protect your family and friends" and dispose of wire brush cleaners - a seemingly innocuous item that nearly cost her daughter her life - as they can shed their sharp bristles and end up getting into food, leading to serious or deadly consequences.
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