Brad Gauthier woke up one morning struggling to breathe and experienced a choking sensation when he attempted to drink water to relieve the problem.
Despite feeling a "strange sensation in his chest", the 38-year-old got on with his day, completely unaware as to the severity of the situation.
It was only when he roped in his wife Heather and son Owen to try and track down his missing Apple AirPod headphone and they joked it must be in his throat after hearing a change in his voice that "something clicked".
He decided it was best to head to the hospital and double check, where staff assumed the food he had eaten to celebrate Heather's birthday must be the cause - but an X-ray told a different story.
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