A TikTok user in Mexico thought her persistent cough was just a reaction to weather changes. Instead, it was her nose stud, deeply embedded in her lung. The 26-year-old, Monica Deyanira Cabrera Barajas, recently went viral on TikTok, amassing millions of views after discovering the bizarre accident.
In the video, she revealed that the lost accessory was located just 0.5 millimeters away from her aorta. Deyanira initially didn’t notice the stud was missing. Only when she developed a chronic cough lasting over a month did she go to see a doctor. She underwent a high-risk medical procedure to remove the stud.
During the initial attempt, surgeons were unable to move the object because it had already begun adhering to her internal tissues. Faced with a second, more invasive surgery and the risk of fatal hemorrhage, Deyanira prepared for the worst.
The night before the operation, she wrote a farewell letter to her loved ones. The surgeon was equally shocked by how close the metal was to her heart. If the metal had punctured her lungs or heart before doctors discovered it, Deyanira said she likely would have died from a lung collapse or a pierced aorta.