Doctors were stunned when they pulled out a black feather, about 5cm long, that was stuck under the skin of Mya Whittington.

Mya, 7 months old, was rushed to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, Kansas (USA) by her parents after the skin under her jaw was swollen half the size of a golf ball and a pimple appeared.

Previously, parents used to take the baby to the doctor when this skin area was just starting to swell, however, at that time, the doctor diagnosed this as a common infection caused by a swollen gland in the body. They prescribed antibiotics and sent the baby home.

When the pimples began to appear, Mya was taken back to the hospital. This time, doctors thought it was a form of staph infection on the lymph nodes. They proceed to break down, dry the pimple and draw a boundary of the swollen area. After that, the baby was continued to be treated with antibiotics and 2 days later, the doctor scraped the scab that formed there.

After the doctors left, Aaron Whittington, Mya’s father, noticed something like a rope or a stick growing out of the pimple. However, he was not very interested because he thought that the doctors had done all that was necessary.

That night, the pediatrician came to examine Mya and discovered a strange object, she pulled it out with tongs and found that it was a black feather about 5cm long.

Doctors believe Mya may have swallowed or inhaled the feather causing it to stick to her cheek or throat. Over time, your baby’s body tries to expel it.

According to Emma Whittington, Mya’s mother, she was bought by her parents for a feather pillow but did not use it often. It had been left in the family’s laundry room for months now.

Mya has had swollen left cheek for several months, but her mother always thinks it’s because of her teething or ear infections.

In her 20 years at the hospital’s pediatric department, Sandra Mathis, a nurse at the Hutchinson Center, has never seen a case like Mya’s, although there was a case where a child got caught in the hard bristles of a hair comb in her tonsils because she chewed the comb.

Baby Mya has not completely recovered. The swollen area now grows a lump about 4cm in diameter. If the lump does not rupture on its own, Mya will have to undergo surgery to remove it.