Watch CBS News

1-Inch Grill Brush Wire Surgically Removed From Woman's Throat After BBQ

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A woman was spending her Saturday barbequing with friends, with a sudden grill-related hazard prompted a rush to the emergency room, and nearly cost her life.

Playa Del Rey resident Shawna McLean was barbequing, when she felt something sharp lodge in her throat after taking a bite from a piece of meat off the grill.

Her husband immediately rushed her to Cedars Sinai's emergency room, where they were stunned to find out what had occurred.

"(The doctor) stuck a scope through my nose, down into my throat to see it, and he found it, and said, 'You have a piece of wire sticking out the back of your throat'," McLean said.

Doctors found, and had to surgically remove, a wire from a grill brush, nearly an inch long, that had lodged itself in McLean's throat.

"It was very violent and very painful," McLean recalled.

Having been released from the hospital Monday morning, McLean remains unable to eat solid foods, and she says it is painful to swallow.

Meanwhile, she has a message for anyone planning on some barbequing:

"From here on out, any time I use the brush on the grill, I'm going to make sure that I get something like a wet paper towel, or cloth, and wipe it down before I put anything on the grill."

McLean suspects the brush that left the wire on the grill may have been old.

"It was just such a freak thing, but if you think about it, this could be happening a lot more often."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.