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 them 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. 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 share.

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 stories as amusing or cautionary anecdotes, they’ve also started keeping these objects and have put them on display.

This framed collection includes items dating all the way back to 1918 and features bizarre objects 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 definitely 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, such as 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.

A peek at the framed collection outside Boston Children's Hospital ENT department

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Roosevelt campaign pin removed from a child’s esophagus on Nov. 2, 1940

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

A tea cup hook

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

Cross removed from esophagus in 1950

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

Cotton swab recovered from a child’s windpipe in 1944

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

A straight pin recovered from a child’s esophagus in 1918.

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

A thumbtack recovered from a child’s lung in 1949

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I think pins may be too much for me to stomach.

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A toy pin recovered from a child’s esophagus in 1929.

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

Toy rooster recovered from the esophagus of a young patient

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

A Scottie dog trinket

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

Gold wire removed from a child’s esophagus in 1940

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

Doll's hand removed from the larynx of a child in 1931

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

"Bell in esophagus," 1945

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

A plastic ring removed from a young patient’s esophagus in 1945.

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

Doll's eye removed from a young patient's mouth in 1944

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

A chicken claw removed from a child via laryngoscopy in 1940

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

Sardine key removed from a child’s esophagus in 1942

Alissa Ambrose/STAT

This collection serves as a reminder to parents to be vigilant

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

Fun fact: the doctor who removed a doll’s eye from a child’s mouth in 1944 is also the source of inspiration for the collection. A note inside the framed display explains: "It stands in tribute to Charles F. Ferguson, M.D., who dedicated his thirty-five-year career at Children’s Hospital to the preservation of the pediatric airway."

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