Boy, 2, almost died after a piece of popcorn got lodged in his LUNG causing bacterial pneumonia 

Boy, 2, almost died after a piece of popcorn got lodged in his LUNG causing bacterial pneumonia

  • Nash Goddard, two, was eating popcorn while watching a movie with his parents at home in Denver, Colorado
  • He briefly choked on a piece but recovered immediately and seemed fine
  • But it turns out the kernel got aspirated into his lung 
  • The next day he got a fever and a strange cough that turned out to be pneumonia 

A two-year-old boy almost died from eating popcorn after a kernel that got trapped in his lungs, causing a bacterial infection that developed into pneumonia.

Nash Goddard, two, briefly choked on his snack, but recovered almost immediately while watching a movie with his parents at home in Denver, Colorado, on February 16.

But the next day, he developed a strange-sounding cough and came down with a fever. 

After tucking him into bed, his mother Nicole, 39, rang the doctor who urged her to take Nash straight to hospital due to his concerning symptoms.

Nash Goddard, pictured with his mom Nicole, aspirated a piece of popcorn that went to his lung

The two-year-old developed pneumonia that required surgery. Pictured: in the hospital, (right) with his father Jake

Nash had seemed fine the evening he ate popcorn but the next day he got a fever and a cough

Nash had seemed fine the evening he ate popcorn but the next day he got a fever and a cough

Further tests showed he’d developed pneumonia from the aspirated popcorn pieces.

His body saw it as a ‘foreign object’ and created pus-filled pockets around it.

Thankfully, after three days in hospital, Nash was allowed home and has since made a full recovery.

Mother-of-three Nicole, a flight attendant, said: ‘Nash didn’t cough anything up when he had his choking fit, so we presumed he just swallowed it.  

‘We had no idea popcorn would have caused such an ordeal, it was a nightmare.

‘I paced and cried the entire time my little man was in [the hospital].’ 

While at Children’s Hospital, Aurora, Colorado, Nash had an x-ray and after the doctor ‘didn’t like what he saw’, he was referred for a bronchoscopy.

Nash was then put under anesthetic and the doctor performed two separate surgeries to remove the pieces of popcorn from his lung.

Nicole and Jake said the entire ordeal was traumatic watching Nash in hospital

Nicole and Jake said the entire ordeal was traumatic watching Nash in hospital

Nicole and Jake said the entire ordeal was traumatic watching Nash in hospital

The family is urging others not to feed popcorn to kids under the age of five

The family is urging others not to feed popcorn to kids under the age of five

Nash’s father, Jake, also 39 and also a flight attendant, had been away with work and arrived at the hospital just in time to go to recovery and see him.

Nicole said: ‘The surgeons successfully removed six pieces of popcorn from Nash’s lungs, but were concerned they hadn’t managed to remove all of it due to the inflammation.

‘Two days later, Nash went in for a second surgery where they were able to remove the last piece of popcorn.

‘He was a little rock star post-surgery and was sent home the same evening as the surgery as he recovered so well.’

Following the ordeal, Nicole was warned about the risks of children under five having popcorn, despite Nash having it before.

She added: ‘We’ve happily given popcorn to Nash’s sisters, Ashlee [nine] and Reagan [seven] and not had any problems – I had no idea you weren’t supposed to give it to children under five.

‘Jake and I are so happy our little man turned out OK – if I hadn’t of trusted my instinct and brought him in to the hospital, the outcome wouldn’t have been good.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk