While having a routine filling at the dentist, 60-year-old from Illinois breathed in at just the wrong moment and inhaled the inch-long (2.5cm) drill bit. "I didn't really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough," he said.
A CT scan confirmed he'd inhaled the bit rather than swallowed it, and showed it was lodged deep in the right lower lobe of his lung. This meant that Joszi was likely to need invasive surgery to retrieve it, possibly involving removing part of his lung. However, pulmonary surgeon Dr Abdul Alraiyes, who treated Jozsi, decided to try to remove it with a catheter more usually used for detecting lung cancer. This was successful, and the medical team removed the drill bit without causing any damage or irritation.
"I was never so happy as when I opened my eyes, and I saw him with a smile under that mask shaking a little plastic container with the tool in it," Jozsi said; the retrieved bit now enjoys pride of place on a shelf at his home.
people.com, 19th April 2022
