The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
If you think getting a frog in your throat is annoying, imagine getting a pin caught in your throat! That happened to one little boy in 1933.
A doctor found a brass safety pin stuck in the esophagus of six-month old Mark Severson of Fargo, after his parents brought him in due to his restlessness and refusal of food.
The boy and his mother flew by plane out to Minneapolis, where specialist Dr. Kenneth Phelps removed the pesky pin in two minutes on this day. Coincidentally, Dr. Phelps had successfully performed a similar operation on another North Dakotan baby only months before.
Mark recovered fully and was only hungry after having the irritation of a pin stuck in his throat for twenty hours.
Dakota Datebook Written by: Sarah Walker.
"Dakota Datebook" is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from Humanities North Dakota. See all the Dakota Datebooks at prairiepublic.org, subscribe to the "Dakota Datebook" podcast, or buy the Dakota Datebook book at shopprairiepublic.org.
