A 14-year-old California teen had to be hospitalized after accidentally swallowing a 25-cent piece that got stuck inside his air passage.

The unidentified teen was taken to the hospital after complaining of hoarseness and difficulty swallowing. Doctors were surprised as the teen did not display any breathing problems even after a physical examination was done.

X-rays of his chest show the object situated vertically within the subglottis, the region between the vocal cords and the trachea. This allowed air to pass through despite causing him discomfort.

According to the doctors, in most cases of accidental aspiration, foreign objects lodge themselves in the trachea or other parts of the throat, potentially jeopardizing the patient’s breathing.

“Airway foreign bodies, especially those in the trachea and larynx, necessitate immediate removal to reduce the risk of respiratory compromise,” the doctors said.

A rigid bronchoscopy was performed on the term while he was under general anesthesia. This allowed them to extract the coin with minimal damage to the air canal.

Then, the teen’s symptoms decreased, and he was discharged home.

This incident comes a few months after a 7-year-old boy who swallowed a quarter tagged a Dallas bus driver a hero after saving his life.

Reports show that the 7-year-old boy was laughing with his friends just moments before bus surveillance footage showed him putting something in his mouth.

The boy rushed to the driver, Raquel Radford Baker, who performed the Heimlich. Heimlich is a rapid first-aid procedure to treat choking due to upper airway obstruction by a foreign object. 

Surveillance footage also shows the drivers performing the Heimlich outside the school. Reports claim that she did the life-saving technique several times until the quarter launched out of the little boy’s mouth.

A report published by Harvard Health in 2019 shows that coins are the most common inedible objects swallowed by children. This accounts for more than 60% of cases in which children sought medical care after aspirating a foreign object.