When parents Aaron and Emma Washington noticed a strange pimple on the side of their daughter’s face, they thought it would go away on its on and they decided to ignore it. But instead of getting smaller, the growth kept growing larger and larger. They finally realized something was wrong and they decided to take their seven-month-old to the doctor.
The growth on the side of their infant’s face had swollen to the size of a golf ball. The doctor had never seen anything like it. At first, he diagnosed the bump as a simple infection. But he soon realized it was something much more serious. The doctor pinched the white object that poked out of the girls face, and he started to pull.
As he pulled, the object slowly began to exit the child’s face. Everyone in the room was stunned when they finally saw what it was: a feather.
The doctors aren’t exactly sure how the seven-month-old ended up with a feather in her face, but the most plausible theory is that the baby accidentally inhaled the feather when she was in bed or near a down comforter. The feather apparently pierced the inside of cheek once it was inside of her mouth, then the body began to reject the feather.
Since the feather had lodged into her flesh, the only way out of the body was through the skin. The baby’s body began pushing the feather through her skin little by little until it poked through and produced a pimple-like shape on her cheek.
The Importance Of Child Safety
While there have been numerous reports about babies ingesting button batteries and other small objects, this may be the first and only report about a feather coming through a child’s cheek. The incident reiterates the importance of keeping small and potentially dangerous objects out of your child’s reach. Follow these tips to help ensure your child’s safety:
- Never let your child eat without supervision.
- Keep all small objects cleaned up and out of reach of small children. Get on your hands and knees so that you are at your child’s eye level and remove all small items.
- Be on the lookout for magnets, including refrigerator magnets or games and toys that include magnets.
- Keep cords and strings out of your child’s reach.
- Never tie a string or ribbon to a pacifier or toy.
