Bizarre Objects Swallowed By Kids Are On Display At The Boston Children's Hospital

Kids are notorious for putting basically everything in their mouths, up their noses, or in their ears. It’s something that most children do in their early years, their mouths are another extension of their hands and help as they explore and learn about the world they were born into.

They’re like little scientists, but with zero life experience, so everything is in need of constant testing. But, for as long as kids have been sticking things into the orifices in their heads, doctors have been retrieving them, along with some anecdotes to go along.

The staff at the ENT (ears, nose, and throat) department at Boston Children’s Hospital has taken their inappropriately lodged object retrieval to a whole new level. Instead of just removing the items and keeping the story as amusing or cautionary anecdotes, they’ve also started keeping these objects and have put them on display.

This framed collection has items dating all the way back to 1918 and has bizarre items like a doll's hand, a chicken claw, a cross charm from a necklace, and a 1940 campaign pin for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s reelection.

This display acts as a visual, and chilling reminder to parents and caregivers to remain vigilant. 'It is definitely something that catches the eye of parents and makes them think twice about what their kids are exposed to,' said Dr. Anne Hseu, a head and neck surgeon at the hospital who has removed many strange objects from young patients.

Besides the obvious dangers of choking, like brain damage or death, Hseu warned that ingesting a foreign object could lead to infection. 'Disc-like button batteries are among the more commonly swallowed items these days, and are particularly dangerous because the chemicals in them can burn esophageal tissue in a couple of hours,' Hseu shared.

'Pain, a chronic cough, or even recurring pneumonia could indicate a child has swallowed something they shouldn't have and needs a doctor's attention,' she added. 'A foreign object can often be removed without surgery using an instrument that doctors call a "peanut grasper."'

If you’re curious about what has made it onto the macabre display, keep scrolling to see close-up photos of the weird things children have ingested over the years.