Beansprouts - a vegetable you either love or hate.

And despite landing herself in the accident and emergency (A&E) department of a hospital after a beansprout somehow wedged itself in her throat, it has not stopped this woman's liking of the vegetable.

The bizarre incident occurred in October 2023, content creator Vanessa Chia told AsiaOne on Monday (Jan 15). She declined to reveal the hospital she visited.

In a TikTok video on Jan 10, the 26-year-old recounted her ordeal that started when she felt something stuck in her throat after eating mala and rojak for lunch.

Chalking the feeling up to a consequence of the 'heaty' foods she had consumed earlier, the woman tried to "swallow down the feeling" by drinking water, but to no avail.

The feeling persisted till later that night, when Chia suddenly coughed and "felt something coming up from the back of my throat".

"I looked in the mirror and I saw something dangling out," she exclaimed.

The woman said she then tried pulling it out of her throat for around five minutes before calling her boyfriend for help.

"We even tried using tweezers, but every time he pulled, I could feel a resistance from the back of my throat," she explained.

Afraid that they might be tugging on a part of her throat instead, Chia told her boyfriend to stop and went to bed thinking that she could "sleep it off".

When Chia woke up with the same feeling the next day, however, the couple decided to seek treatment at a polyclinic, where they were immediately referred to the A&E.

There, multiple tests such as an X-ray were performed on Chia, before they were able to see a doctor eight hours later.

According to her, the doctor decided to do an endoscopy, which is a procedure where a small camera fixated on a tube is passed into the nose or mouth to examine the throat and stomach.

It was then that the doctor confirmed that there was something stuck in Chia's throat and called for an assistant to repeat the procedure with a "bigger" tube containing a medical device to free the object.

"They went in and out my nose - both left and right sides - around five to six times, but they just couldn't get it out," recalled Chia. "That was around an hour of me sitting there and just tearing constantly."

After she was given some time to rest, another nurse managed to successfully remove the object.

But as her doctor found "something else" still stuck in her throat, they had to repeat the procedure again - and out came a beansprout, root and all.

"When they pulled it out, the doctor couldn't even believe it," said Chia, "The whole time, she was asking me, 'Is it a fish bone?'."

Despite this incident, Chia said that she still likes eating beansprouts, although she is "a little bit more careful now".

New fear unlocked

In the comments section, several alarmed netizens wrote that Chia's experience has "unlocked" a new fear.

"Something so soft can get stuck? New fear unlocked," exclaimed a TikTok user.

"Wow first time hearing this... Will remind myself to chew and eat slowly," wrote a netizen.

"This has heightened my fear or dislike for beansprouts," said one, while some jested this is their new reason to avoid eating the vegetable.

What to do if foreign object gets stuck in throat

According to Parkway Shenton Medical Clinic, one may experience discomfort, breathing difficulties, as well as difficulty and pain when swallowing, if a foreign object gets stuck in their throat or food pipe.

If the object is not a bone or hard object, they should drink water to try moving it down. Otherwise, they should not attempt to remove bones and hard objects by themselves as they may injure the throat.

If the object remains stuck, one should head to the A&E department, where a doctor can remove the obstruction. Specialised equipment may be needed to remove food stuck deep in the throat.

ALSO READ: Mala madness: Woman rushes to A&E after hotpot dinner

lim.kewei@asiaone.com

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