What to Know
With how damaging disposable plastic straws can be to the environment, it makes sense that people are seeking alternatives, whether that’s paper straws, silicone straws, or glass straws. But if glass is your vessel of choice, you might want to think twice next time you refill your glass after watching this video that’s going viral on TikTok.
One woman is sharing what happened when a piece of her straw broke off in her mouth, and the situation was so scary that she is imploring people to ditch their glass straws for good so this doesn’t happen to them.
She started off by showing footage from her hospital bed.
@_colorful__chaos_ SEND THIS to anyone you know who uses glass straws! If youre using them TOSS THEM OUT. Not worth it. #glassstraws #glassstraw #glass #straw #emergency ♬ original sound – _itsbreezie_
While in a hospital gown (and speaking with a very hoarse voice), the woman, who posts from @_colorful__chaos_ on TikTok, said that she’d had to have surgery thanks to a glass straw — the same ones that she’d shared a video promoting for TikTok Shop days earlier.
In the video, which has already racked up over 29 million views, she tearfully urged her followers, “don’t use glass straws. It’s not worth it.”
She realized that she had swallowed a shard of glass that had broken off of her straw.
In the clip that followed, she told the whole story of what happened after she’d gotten home from the hospital. After realizing that something didn’t feel right when she swallowed, she realized that a piece of her straw was missing. She tried to stay calm, but when she burped a couple of hours later and began bleeding, she knew it was time to visit the ER.
At first, she didn’t think the doctors were taking her seriously, but then, a gastroenterologist spoke up and said they needed to “expedite” her treatment after testing showed a piece of glass in her stomach.
“They rushed me to put me to sleep and put the tube down my throat to try to get it,” she said. “From the CAT scan to me finally getting into the room for that procedure, it had already left my stomach, so I’ve got a piece of glass floating around in my intestines.”
Her nightmare isn’t quite over yet.
Now, she has to wait and make sure that her body is able to pass the shard of glass without incident while also making sure that she doesn’t have more alarming symptoms, like bleeding, in the meantime.
People are sharing just how horrified they are by this story in the comments. One wrote, “new fear unlocked,” while another added, “I’ve been using glass straws for about 5 or 6 years now. I’m throwing them away right now!! Thank you for this PSA!! I hope you pass it safely.”
While glass straws are considered safe most of the time, this is a risk that many people would never anticipate. May this poor lady heal quickly. She’s been through enough already!
