Summer is all about spending time outside, firing up the grill, and soaking up the long nights and hot days of the most relaxing time of year.
What’s summer without a good old fashioned cookout?
But one scary encounter with a metal BBQ brush has a mom in Canada warning other parents about the hidden dangers of this otherwise totally normal household item.
Just minutes after eating BBQ on July 4th, Jenna Kuchik’s son Ollie began complaining that there was something “stuck” and hurting his throat.
The concerned mother detailed the experience on Facebook:
“After suspecting a BBQ bristle was stuck, Matt checked the other chicken that we hadn’t eaten yet and found one in there too.”
They rushed to the hospital where an X-ray confirmed that there was indeed a metal BBQ brush bristle lodged in little Ollie’s throat!
Jenna Kuchik
“Throughout the 2 hours at the hospital Ollie couldn’t swallow and kept gagging and spitting.”
Because of the location of the bristle, doctors sent Ollie to a Children’s hospital for specialized care. He and his dad rode in an ambulance as Jenna and the couple’s other two children followed behind.
Jenna Kuchik
“It was the most awful and difficult 24 hours of my life watching my son in so much pain, not being able to do anything to make it better and know that this could have been 100% avoidable…we even have a wooden BBQ grill cleaner still new in package that we’ve been meaning to use.”
By 5 p.m. the next day, Ollie finally was able to have two pieces of metal bristle surgically removed from his throat.
Jenna Kuchik
“I am so grateful he is ok but I just don’t ever want something like this to happen to someone else.”
Jenna hopes her message will help parents think twice before using a metal brush to clean the grill. And it turns out she’s not alone.
Jenna Kuchik
In the comments on Facebook, users flooded the feed with similar experiences:
Others offered safe alternatives to cleaning the grill:
Don’t let something like a BBQ brush be the dangerous scare that puts a halt to your summertime fun.
Share Jenna’s story today—it could wind up saving someone from the same trauma.
