Woman swallows AirPods after confusing them for vitamins

In a strange twist, a Utah woman in her 50s accidentally swallowed her husband's AirPods while chatting with a friend, sparking a viral TikTok video.

  (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

While engaged in a casual conversation with her friend, a real estate agent hailing from Utah in the US, found herself in a peculiar situation when she inadvertently swallowed something other than her routine vitamins. Tanna Barker, 52, took to TikTok to share the bewildering experience, which garnered millions of views.

Barker recounted the unusual turn of events during an interview with Insider and in a TikTok video. The incident unfolded on a Saturday as she was out for a stroll and crossed paths with her friend.

As they conversed, Barker reached for her usual vitamin pills, but something felt amiss. She initially thought that the pills had congealed, causing mild discomfort as they went down her throat. She persevered, drinking water to swallow them. 

A tough pill to swallow: Accidentally swallowing AirPods

After parting ways with her friend, Barker glanced at her hand and was astonished to find the pills still there. It was then that she realized she had inadvertently swallowed her husband's missing AirPods, which she had borrowed earlier that day. In disbelief, she returned home and tearfully recounted the mishap to her spouse.

Her husband advised her to keep the incident a secret, but Barker felt compelled to share it with her 4,000 TikTok followers and reached out to a family member working in the medical field for guidance. She explained that nearly everyone advised her to let nature to take its course with the earphones, as the batteries inside were encased in plastic.

Amid a chorus of surprised comments from her followers, some wondered if the AirPods were still functional within Barker's stomach or if she could hear music emanating from her innards. The answer, however, was no.

Thankfully, the AirPods safely emerged from her system on Monday. Barker later posted a follow-up video to express her gratitude to her concerned followers.