metal straw punctures boys tongue and hits major artery
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Boy Almost Dies After Metal Straw Went Through His Tongue

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A New York boy nearly died after a metal straw impaled his tongue while sipping on a cup of yogurt in June.

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The incident occurred in East Moriches, Long Island, when Charlie DeFraia,4,  was sipping on yogurt and fell off a porch after losing his balance. The straw went through his tongue and throat, puncturing his carotid artery. The carotid artery is a major artery that supplies oxygen and blood to the brain, but the injury didn’t leave an external wound.

Defraia’s father, Charles, an internal medicine doctor, knew his son was in danger after profusely bleeding from the mouth. ‘It was evident that he was losing a serious amount of blood, and he actually stopped breathing on me a couple of times. I had to protect his airway, and that’s all I could do at that point,’ he explained.

His mother, Crystal, initially thought her son fell on his nose and only suffered from bruises resulting from the fall. I just saw blood on his face. I assumed he busted his nose or his lip or bit his tongue. I could never have imagined that it was as serious as it was,” she explained to Today.

She also thought Charlie would die from his injuries due to the blood he lost.

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After transporting him to Stony Brook University Hospital, doctors had to put a stent graft to fix the punctured artery and said it would help create a new carotid artery.

‘In doing that, it not only stopped the bleeding and sealed off the bleeding but also restored normal blood flow to the right side of Charlie’s brain. The boy remained in an eight-week medically induced coma but was awakened and released from the hospital in July

Social media reacts to the incident, and unlocks a new fear.

Many people have opposed metal straws due to the recent ban on plastic straws. Metal straws were initially put in favor to save the environment. After learning about the incident, many people want suggested the idea of using plastic straws again.

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