I’d never heard of this happening before, but apparently it has. Once in a while, someone accidentally eats one of their AirPods. This latest adventure of a swallowed AirPod turned StomachPod comes via TikTok.
What Happens When You’re Doing Too Much
Boston-based TikTok user @iamcarliiib had her left AirPod in one hand, and an 800mg ibuprofen in the other. She was multitasking poorly, tossed back what she thought was her pain pill, and washed it down with a drink of water.
“I was crawling into bed,” she says in her TikTok video , “I had Ibuprofen 800 in my right hand and I had my left AirPod in my left hand.”
That’s when she realized the ibuprofen was still in her hand. Frantic, she sent a voice memo to a friend, perhaps to get advice on what to do. Unfortunately, all her friend was able to hear were the gurgling sounds of her stomach. The swallowed AirPod was still connected to her iPhone, even though its match was in the charging case. That’s because iOS recognizes that sometimes you only want one AirPod connected.
The Passing of the Swallowed AirPod
The young Bostonian did what any sensible person would do. She tried to force herself to regurgitate the swallowed AirPod. When that didn’t work, Ms. Carli B. realized she would have to let nature take its course. She did go for stomach X-rays, which confirmed she had passed the AirPod. The TikTok creator says she thought it had left her body, but she did not attempt to retrieve it.
Others have made similar mistakes. A man from Massachusetts accidentally ate one of his AirPods in his sleep. A 7-year-old from Georgia was rushed to the emergency room after eating one of the small earbuds.