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A 10-YEAR-OLD girl is lucky to be alive after a piece of her fidget spinner — the latest must-have toy for kids — got lodged in her throat.
Kelly Rose Joniec, from Texas, has described the terrifying moment her daughter Britton swallowed a piece of one of the wildly popular playthings and was rushed to hospital for surgery, reports The Sun.
She wrote on Facebook: “On the way home from a fun swim meet, I heard Britton make an odd retching noise in the back seat as I was driving.
“Looking back in the mirror, I saw her face turning red and drool pouring from her mouth.”
The mum pulled over and her daughter motioned to her throat. Britton had put part of the fidget spinner in her mouth to clean it and accidentally swallowed it.
The pair rushed to hospital, but doctors couldn’t tell whether the piece was in her airway or oesophagus so an ambulance rushed them to Texas Children’s Hospital near Houston.
An x-ray showed the piece of metal was in her oesophagus and it was removed through surgery.
Kelly Rose added: “Fortunately, we had a positive outcome, but it was pretty scary there for a while.”
The x-ray showing the fidget spinner.Source:Facebook
Kelly Rose Joniec with daughter Britton.Source:Facebook
Now she is warning other parents about the peril the toys can represent.
She said: “Not all spinners come with age-appropriate warnings. The bushings pop out easily, so …. keep in mind that these present a potential choking hazard.”
Fidget spinners were designed as stress-relieving tools to help kids deal with ADHD and anxiety.
The propeller-shaped gadgets, which come in a variety of colours, have ball bearings which allow them to spin.
You simply hold it in between your fingers, flick it and watch it spin. Some versions even light up, and they are completely silent.
The fidget spinner helps to relax and relieve stressSource:The Advertiser
Kids can compete against each other to come up with the best tricks, or to keep their gadget spinning the longest.
They are designed for those who “can’t quite keep still and need a fidget phenomenon to stop the strains and stresses whilst working”.
How small the part was.Source:Facebook
The broken spinner.Source:Facebook
Promoted to beat boredom and increase concentration, some Amazon reviewers even claim the toys have helped them stop biting their nails.
But some parents claim they turn their kids into ‘morons’.
The gadgets are small enough to fit in a pocket.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission