Parents Issue Warning About Popcorn After Their Toddler Was Admitted Into Surgery

Oct 29, 2019 by apost team

Most of us think of popcorn as being a less-than-healthy but still harmless snack to eat when watching television or a movie. That’s what Nicole and Jake Goddard of Parker, Colorado used to think until tragedy stuck and they almost lost their little boy due to the salty snack.

According to Fox 31 News, it all started when the family sat down to watch “Mrs. Doubtfire” with a large bowl of popcorn handy. The youngest child, Nash, was enjoying the snack until he began to choke on something. Jake jumped to attention and grabbed his son, preparing to do the Heimlich on him. When Nash took another breath, the couple decided that he was okay and had simply swallowed a piece of popcorn wrong.

By the start of the next week; however, it became clear that Nash was not as good as new. He had developed a fever and was acting upset. When his breathing began to come with difficulty during the night, Nicole rushed him to the emergency room where they he had to endure a chest X-ray and a bronchoscopy.

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The results were shocking. Six pieces of popcorn had become embedded in the little boy’s lungs, leading him to develop a serious case of pneumonia. A second procedure had to be performed so that the pieces could be removed and the lung completely cleaned of popcorn.

While Nicole and Jake were sick with worry, Nash came through the surgery without any problems and had a quick recovery.

The couple discovered that popcorn is not a safe snack for children under 5 since they don’t have enough strength to cough up pieces that get caught in their throat or lungs. To help other parents prevent similar situations, Nicole took the story to social media to share what had happened and encourage parents to opt-out of popcorn for small children.

We are so thankful that Nash survived the experience and that it gave his parents a platform to warn the public about the dangers of this common household snack. Have you ever had a problem with your child eating popcorn? Let us hear your story below and then pass this story along to other parents.