If you’ve got a kid (or remember your own toddler days), you’re probably familiar with the struggle of little ones wanting to put anything and everything in their mouth.
In an example of how this innocent behaviour can take a frightening turn, one 8-month-old girl in Nanaimo had to undergo surgery after she accidentally put a venomous caterpillar in her mouth.
Last Thursday, May 31st, little Kenzie was hanging out eating a cookie in the backyard with her brother Logan and their mom Krystal Pyne, when she suddenly started screaming.
Upon closer inspection, Pyne saw a black mark inside her baby’s mouth that resembled a burn – but this didn’t make sense, and her daughter was in obvious pain.
Panicked, she rushed Kenzie to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital where a doctor informed her that the black mark was actually a caterpillar – a silver spotted tiger moth caterpillar, to be precise – that was lodged in her mouth.
Its tentacles were “fused to her cheek” and the little hairs stuck to her tongue.
They were immediately taken to Victoria General Hospital by ambulance where she went through an hour long procedure to have the insect removed from her mouth.
Thankfully the surgery went well, and Kenzie was back to her usual cheerful self the very next day.
“It was definitely quite the experience,” says mom, Krystal Pyne. “She was miserable, [we’re] definitely glad it’s behind us.”
