Kid eats his ice cream money!
A young boy became seriously ill after swallowing a $2 coin while on his way to spend it on an ice cream. But with the coin now safely removed from his throat the “chirpy” 10-year-old still wants to invest it in a cold treat. His parents, however, plan to save the coin for his 21st birthday as a reminder of his, in hindsight, “quite funny” ordeal.
The boy was walking to a dairy in Tauranga with his two siblings to buy an ice cream about 4pm on Sunday. He can’t remember why, but he put the dirty $2 coin his parents had given him into his mouth. It then became lodged in his throat, causing him to gag and throw up for close to eight hours.
He was initially taken to Tauranga Hospital, but because of concerns about the coin moving around, he was transferred to Waikato Hospital in the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. The boy’s father, Grayson Ottaway, a reporter for Newstalk ZB in Tauranga, said his son – who he did not want named – had an uncomfortable night in hospital.
Hospital staff were able to remove the coin from the boy’s oesophagus and apart from having “a little bit of a sore throat,” he was back to his normal self.
Hospital staff told Mr Ottaway that Sundays were commonly “a busy day for swallowings”. They have actually had quite a number of batteries, marbles, little tiny army men and all sorts. “Kids get bored and go, I wonder if this will go up there.”