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Grilling Dads, Beware the Bristled Brush this Memorial Day Weekend

May 22, 2012

Dads, you know you’re going to roll the grill out this weekend – if you haven’t already. But be careful that what happened to one New Jersey man doesn’t happen to you. Before you get the charcoal or gas ready, read this story of one man’s literal ‘brush with death.’ 

CBS NewYork reports Michael DeStefan went to the hospital because he was experiencing stomach pain.

Doctors examined DeStefan and after testing found a 1½-inch-long metallic object had “pierced the 54-year-old’s large intestine.”

DeStefan recalls in the video interview:

“The guy (doctor) walks out of the room, sticks his head back in and says, ‘did you eat a nail?’ So I look around, I say, ‘what did he say?’ He said did you eat a nail? I said, ‘no, I didn’t eat a nail.’ ‘Did you eat a paperclip? A fishhook?’ I look at my wife. I say ‘my stomach’s killing me.’ I said ‘what’s with the jokes?’ He says, ‘I’m not joking.’”

DeStefan’s wife came home to realize one of the metal bristles on her husbands’ grill brush had broken off and stuck to the grill grate. The bristle then embedded in the steak DeStefan ate just days before going to the hospital.

Doctors performed emergency surgery, removing the wire and repairing the hole created in DeStefan’s large intestine.

DeStefan says, “I hope no one will have to go through that…I want people to be aware of the fact that something as simple and innocent as going outside and grilling steaks and hamburgers for your family and friends could potentially be life-threatening.”

Rhode Island has reported over half a dozen similar cases. Be careful this weekend, grilling dads.

Read the full article at CBS New York.

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