Georgia Girl’s Tongue Stuck In Water Bottle For Hours, Doctors Forced To Perform Emergency Surgery
A Georgia girl got her tongue stuck inside a bottle of water for eight hours, prompting a decision by doctors to perform emergency surgery to free the 8-year-old child. The surgeons worked diligently for an hour to safely separate the little girl’s tongue from the reusable water bottle, according to MyFoxAtlanta.
Jayla Small was at cheerleading practice when the traumatic accident occurred. During an interview with the local television station, her mother Shantay Small noted that the cheerleading coaches tried to slide the bottle away from the girl’s face, but to no avail.
The paramedics which responded to the unusual 911 call also had no luck removing Jayla’s tongue from the earth-friendly beverage container., the Daily Mail reports. She was then rushed to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston to get help from emergency room physicians.
The cheerleader’s mother noted that the ER staff was also baffled about how to free her daughter from the water container. A crafty member of the healthcare staff punched holes in the container, presumably to generate air flow and reduce suction around the tip of the bottle. The worthy effort was sadly unsuccessful. A maintenance worker was called in to cut the bottom off the metal jug.
Due to the swelling of Jayla Small’s tongue and the fact that the container had maneuvered so far back it was almost touching her wisdom teeth, cutting off the bottom of the metal jug did not work either. When the little girl began gagging due to the swelling and position of the container, she was rushed into the operating room.
Once anesthesia was administered in the operating room, physicians had the freedom of movement necessary to release the metal container. She may now need speech therapy due to possible nerve damage suffered during the ordeal.
