8-Year-Old To Undergo Surgery After Having Plastic Flower Lodged In Throat For 5 Years

An 8-year-old in Australia is scheduled to undergo surgery after a plastic flower lodged in his throat for five years caused him breathing difficulties for most of his life.

The young boy from Adelaide, Marley Enjakovic, had a lingering cough since he was two. However, his parents did not think much of it at the time, believing the condition would self-resolve. But, as time passed, Marley developed breathing difficulties and frequently vomited.

"We always assumed that he was eating too fast because it would self [resolve] and there'd be no other issues," the boy's mother, Skye Enjakovic, told ABC Adelaide. "As time went on, that's when his wheezing started to happen and he just was in and out of hospital and doctors' surgeries," she added, as reported by ABC.

The doctors then diagnosed Marley with asthma, and prescribed him an inhaler, which did not help him with the wheezing or coughing.

"With Marley in the last few years playing a lot of sport and football and basketball, it slowly went downhill pretty quick. He couldn't run out games, coughing a lot more, bringing a lot of food up, bringing water up every time he ate," Marley's dad, Jay Enjakovic, said.

As the boy's condition grew worse, both Jay and Skye suspected it was not asthma and began searching for answers.

When Marley developed a coughing fit in December 2021, he was admitted to the hospital as his oxygen levels were low. A bronchoscopy revealed the boy had a tracheoesophageal fistula.

"It [tracheoesophageal fistula] is a connection from his esophagus to his trachea, meaning that food, drink and saliva had basically been entering his trachea (airway) and going on to his lungs," Skye said.

Children, who are born with this condition are usually diagnosed during pregnancy or at birth and get operated on, when they are a few days old. However, the condition can also be caused at a later stage by trauma or infection.

The doctors initially could not look down at his trachea due to the inflammation and scheduled him for surgery on Dec. 27.

But before going in for surgery, the medics took another look at the trachea and made a shocking discovery.

The boy had a piece of plastic, an arts and craft plastic flower, lodged in his throat.

"I honestly couldn't believe it. This was the whole cause of everything. I was relieved I finally had an answer," Skye said, as reported by News.com.au

"We are unsure how long this piece of plastic was lodged in his airway, but my guess is at least five years as that's when we started noticing small issues which became worse over time," she added.

The doctors removed the plastic flower from Marley's throat in January, but he is scheduled to undergo another surgery this week to remove the connection between his esophagus and trachea caused by the foreign body.