Every Parent Should See This X-Ray of a Grape Lodged in a Child’s Throat

Facebook / Finlee and Me

I try not to be too much of a helicopter parent, but when I hear about kids getting preventable injuries it’s hard for me to suppress my desire to hover right over my little ragamuffins. This x-ray of a grape lodged in a child’s throat has me gassing up the helicopter because hooooooly crap. THERE IS A GRAPE LODGED IN A CHILD’S THROAT.

Angela from the Australian website Finlee and Me posted the frightening image on the site’s Facebook page. “Attention Parents! Do you know what this X-ray is of? A grape! A grape that was lodged in the top of a 5 year olds airway today.” Pardon me for a moment while I freak out and try to remember if I packed grapes in my kids’ lunches.

The post went on to say that the the five-year-old had to be operated on under general anesthetic to remove the grape. Thankfully, the grape didn’t completely block the child’s airway, so he survived. Often, kids who choke on grapes and other large food items aren’t so lucky.

The child’s mother and pediatrician shared the image to raise awareness that even older kids need to have their food cut up. It’s a sobering reminder that kids are easily distracted and sometimes rush through meal times to get onto the fun stuff, like recess. Angela from Finlee and Me urges parents to take a few moments to cut up grapes, hot dogs, cherry tomatoes, and any other foods that could choke a child.

We all know that cutting grapes for our kids can be a process, but it’s always better to be safer than sorry. Below is a quick life hack on how to save time when cutting grapes in half because when your child is screaming, time is of the essence.

[youtube url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3tDG89v5Vc]

I don’t know about all of you, but I am going to be putting my entire family on a diet of soft foods.