Worcester man Brad Gauthier says that he went to bed last Monday while listening to music. He woke up Tuesday, shoveled snow for an hour, then went to take a sip of water. But the liquid wouldn't go down, and he had to lean over to drain it from his throat. Gauthier also noticed he was missing one of his two wireless earbuds, which he typically uses as he falls asleep. His son suggested that perhaps he had swallowed the earbud, which is exactly what an X-ray at a local ER revealed. The small plastic device was lodged in his lower esophagus. Doctors removed it during an emergency endoscopy, but Gauthier said he never experienced more than minor discomfort. Still, he cautioned others not to sleep with their headphones because “you never know where they'll end up.” “It never occurred to me that (sleeping with headphones) could be a safety hazard. I was really quite lucky,” Gauthier said.
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