The Indiana girl was playing with her fidget spinner when a metal piece flew off and went into her mouth. (Decatur Township Fire Department)
An Indiana firefighter is warning parents about fidget spinners, a popular fad toy, after his daughter nearly choked on a metal piece that flew off.
The child was spinning her fidget spinner while sitting in the backseat of the car when one of the metal bearings broke off and flew into her mouth, according to a Thursday Facebook post on Dacatur Township Fire Department's page.
"I did about 5 minutes of back blows and with her coughing it became dislodged and went to her stomach," the firefighter wrote.
The girl was hospitalized and later released. A photo of an x-ray showed the metal piece stuck in the girl's stomach.
"Thankfully this turned out well, but please be aware that it can be a choking hazard," the department warned.
FIDGET SPINNER GETS LODGED IN GIRL'S THROAT
Fidget spinners, made of plastic, metal and a ball bearing, have become the must-have toy of the year, hitting store shelves and online retailers starting this spring. The toy was first seen as a popular item for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism. They have since been banned in many classrooms after teachers claimed they were more of a distraction than a helpful tool.
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH FIDGET SPINNERS?
Parents also said the toys pose as a potential choking hazard.
In May, part of a fidget spinner lodged into a Texas girl's throat while she was cleaning it with her mouth, a mom wrote in a Facebook post.
"She pointed to her throat saying she’d swallowed something, so I attempted Heimlich but there was no resistance," the mother wrote in her post.
Surgeons removed the piece of the spinner through an endoscopic procedure.
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