This teen accidentally swallowed a pin from her BF’s boutonniere on the way to prom

It’s prom season, which means lots of teens in suits and gowns dancing the night away. But one couple in Wellesley, Massachusetts brought a *whole* new meaning to the phrase “sharply dressed.”

Kathleen Garvey and her boyfriend, Colin Emerson, were dancing on the party bus on the way to the Wellesley High School senior prom. However, Colin’s boutonniere kept falling off as they danced, so Kathleen paused to help him, putting the pin in her mouth as she adjusted the flower. But then, Colin made a joke that made Kathleen laugh.

“He made some kind of joke, I laughed and it went down my throat and I immediately started coughing,” Kathleen told CBS Boston. “It was a small black pin so we just assumed worst case scenario it went down.”

Colin was frightened for his girlfriend, but was fairly certain she was OK. “When I made my joke and she kinda turned a little bit to laugh about it, and then she turned back and she was holding her throat,” Colin told CBS Boston. “And the pin wasn’t there, and I said, ‘Oh my god, did you swallow it?’ She said, ‘I don’t know,’ and I thought, okay, well then she probably didn’t. Because I feel like. . . she probably would have felt it if she inhaled it or swallowed it.”

The only thing Kathleen felt was a slight cough when she inhaled deeply — no pain whatsoever — so they decided to carry on with prom as normal. But just in case, the next day, Kathleen went to the doctor for an X-ray. . . only to find the pin in her bronchial tube. Luckily, it was able to be removed with a quick 45-minute surgery, and there were no issues — but Kathleen was extremely lucky.

“[The doctor] knew exactly where it was and exactly how bad it could have been, so I was freaking out, and I was so blessed. . . it hadn’t hit my lung, it hadn’t punctured anything, it was just sitting there,” Kathleen told CBS Boston.

Hey, for having inhaled an inch-and-a-half long pin, the situation really couldn’t have gone better: Kathleen and Colin got to enjoy their prom and it was removed with no harm done.

“I just hope we all learn not to put sharp things in our mouths after this,” Colin joked.