Woman accidentally discovers swallowed AirPods are acid resistant for nine hours

Posted:
in General Discussion edited September 18

A woman has been reunited with her AirPods Pro after a nine-hour-long trip to the emergency room that ended with an emergency endoscopy.

Image Credit: Moe Kennedy
Image Credit: Moe Kennedy



On June 14, 2023, Moe Kennedy found herself in an unusual predicament when she accidentally swallowed one of her AirPods Pro while asleep. What started as a strange dream became an unforgettable journey to the emergency room that will stick with Kennedy and her medical team for years to come.

Around 3 a.m., Kennedy woke up abruptly, realizing she had seemingly swallowed one of her AirPods Pro. In a panic, she tried unsuccessfully to vomit it back up.

She and her mother decided to err on the side of caution. The pair headed to the nearby emergency room at the Covington Medical Center.

"If you've ever lost an AirPod and you're wondering where to look... Maybe look in your stomach because maybe you've eaten it like I did," Moe says in a video posted to TikTok.

When Kennedy arrived, she had to explain her situation to the medical staff. They were surprised and amused to hear that her AirPods Pro were still working. Kennedy's mother could connect to them and hear her daughter's stomach sounds and laughter.

After conducting a CT scan, the medical team discovered that the AirPod had rapidly moved deeper into Kennedy's stomach and was stuck in a precarious position. There were concerns it could remain lodged or require a more invasive surgical procedure if not addressed promptly.

To prevent this, Kennedy was transported by ambulance to the hospital and underwent an emergency endoscopy.

Kennedy woke up after the procedure with her AirPod safely removed and resting in a cup on her lap. Grateful for the successful outcome and the exceptional care she received, she thanked the medical team for their positive attitude and good humor about the whole situation.

"Overall, I would 100% recommend the [AirPods Pro], but I 1000% do not recommend eating them," Kennedy told AppleInsider in an email. "Just happy I ended up totally fine, and laughing that I accidentally tested out the Pros ability to be stomach acid proof, which I found out, was at least up to 9 hours."

Kennedy isn't the first person to have accidentally swallowed an AirPod in her sleep, either. In February 2021, a Massachusetts man swallowed one of his AirPods after it fell out of his ear in his sleep.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    I'm happy for her, but if it were me... I'd keep the story, but buy a new pair.  :)
    beowulfschmidtJaiOh81watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 16
    I'm happy for her, but if it were me... I'd keep the story, but buy a new pair.  :)
    For me, it would depend on whether it was an upper or lower endoscopy.  :#
    lmasantikdupuis77watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 16
    Maybe… this is one of the reasons why Apple released the new wired EadPod with usb-c connector!
  • Reply 4 of 16
    Would she recommend Mac or Burgerking quarterpounders with it ?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 16
    maltzmaltz Posts: 422member
    Maybe update this story that "let it pass naturally" is NOT good advice?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 16
    Come on Apple, make it official:

    An ingestible bacterial-electronic system to monitor gastrointestinal health
    https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aas9315
    lotoneswatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 16
    I'm happy for her, but if it were me... I'd keep the story, but buy a new pair.  :)
    But then you wouldn't have the social media notoriety /s
    kdupuis77watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 16
    If I were her, I'd stick to wired earbuds...
    dewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 16
    Moe, you are a super human!

    Thank you for sharing your story, and for your wise advice to not eat AirPods Pro!

    And...your family should seriously consider gifting you some of these: https://www.apple.com/airpods-max/
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 16
    Interesting that the microphones continued working in that environment
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 16
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,736member
    I thought she was holding an iPad for a second there. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 16
    Maybe this will be a new health feature of the AirPods Pro 3 - Digestive track monitoring, now built-in!

    Hope she has AppleCare+ just for the hilarious phone call where she will need to describe what happened to them haha. We had our puppy chomp my wife's iPhone 8 once, directly bit down and shattered the Home button. I called AppleCare and the lady started giggling and says: "I'm so sorry sir, do you mind me asking what kind of puppy it was" Haha a Chocolate Lab btw. Glad we had the coverage on that one!

    Oh, and if ever there was a case for an individual to step up to the AirPod Max... This might be it haha.

    **PopSocket checks out lol.
    edited September 19 baconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 16
    kdupuis77 said:
    Maybe this will be a new health feature of the AirPods Pro 3 - Digestive track monitoring, now built-in!

    Hope she has AppleCare+ just for the hilarious phone call where she will need to describe what happened to them haha. We had our puppy chomp my wife's iPhone 8 once, directly bit down and shattered the Home button. I called AppleCare and the lady started giggling and says: "I'm so sorry sir, do you mind me asking what kind of puppy it was" Haha a Chocolate Lab btw. Glad we had the coverage on that one!

    Oh, and if ever there was a case for an individual to step up to the AirPod Max... This might be it haha.

    **PopSocket checks out lol.
    Why not?  A remote sensor for your digestive track... iGut ! 
    With built-in Air(?) Tag to track and plan for its exit.
    edited September 19 watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 16
    This article (and the prior one) is a good reason only to wear $10 headphones when you are likely to fall asleep.  Picked up a few wired $7 Koss units and $10 Sony units on sale at Amazon two years ago.  Not sure how you'd swallow AirPods in your sleep.  An alternative would be to wear a mask like the guy on Silence of the Lambs!  Wonder if an insurance company would try to weasel out of covering incident.  Deductible and copay fees could be rather high.  
    edited September 20 watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 16
    This woman is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Hope she doesn’t have children. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 16
    Skeptical, has nothing to do with relative quality of the cutlery. She was sleepwalking as an unanticipated side effect of new meds at the time.
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