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Former child star and pop singer Briohny Smyth almost lost her singing voice forever after her vocal cords were allegedly harmed by something she ate on an airplane. According to People, Briohny — who was a teen star who toured Asia in her younger years — was injured by a splinter from a chicken skewer that was part of her in-flight meal on Singapore Airlines, and now, she’s suing.
Briohny filed a civil complaint earlier this month about the flight she took in 2024.
Briohny — who is now a yoga instructor and mom living in California — was once a popular pop star in Thailand, but even though she doesn’t perform on stage as much as she once did, she still uses her voice talents from time to time.
But in court documents obtained by People, Briohny claimed that those voice talents were jeopardized after a July 2024 flight with Singapore Airlines. She was seated in business class and served a meal that included chicken satay on a wooden skewer when she allegedly swallowed a “jagged wooden splinter” that caused her to experience “severe pain, violent coughing” and “choking distress.”
The splinter, which she says measured about 1.5 inches (which is huge, as far as splinters go) caused her “substantial pain and emotional distress” as she tried to expel it out of her throat, and all in all, it sounds like a pretty bad experience.
The pain was “persistent” even after she managed to clear the splinter.
Getting the splinter out of her throat wasn’t the end of it. Even after her flight, Briohny claimed she experienced “persistent throat discomfort, vocal fatigue, raspiness, tightness and pain with prolonged speaking and singing” that prompted her to visit an ENT doctor who allegedly said that her vocal cords showed signs of trauma and scarring that would have been caused by a foreign object.
Claiming that her “livelihood substantially depends on the integrity and performance of her voice,” Briohny is now asking for a jury trial, along with damages to cover her medical expenses and the loss of income she suffered while she was recovering.
She had performed live in Thailand just days earlier.
It seems like yoga is Briohny’s main gig these days, but she’s still singing. And as People pointed out, just before she took the flight with Singapore Airlines in 2024, she shared a video on Instagram from her first live performance in Thailand following a 10 year hiatus.
“Yesterday, I performed live in Thailand with my son on the drums, my daughter by my side, and my friends and team in my corner, cheering me on. I used the tools I’ve gathered throughout this journey to be present, and I truly enjoyed every minute of it,” she wrote in a July 14, 2024 post.
She added, “I’m so proud of myself. I found my way to get on that stage and be authentically happy. Fear wasn’t there anymore because I’ve learned how to be confident and present.”
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