A 10-year-old girl from Texas had a near-death experience after a toy, given to children to help with anxiety, lodged in her throat.
Horrified mother Kelly Rose Joniec recounted how her daughter Britton was nearly killed after swallowing a part from the propeller-shaped fidget spinner, the Daily Mail reports.
Britton was attempting to clean the metal toy when it happened, Kelly Rose revealed in a Facebook post.
She wrote: "On the way home from a fun swim meet, I heard Britton make an odd retching noise in the back seat as I was driving.
"Looking back in the mirror, I saw her face turning red and drool pouring from her mouth - she could utter noises but looked panicked so I immediately pulled over.
"She pointed to her throat saying she'd swallowed something, so I attempted Heimlich but there was no resistance. She said she'd put part of her fidget spinner in her mouth to clean it and somehow swallowed it."
Describing herself as "frantic", the mother said she rushed her daughter to urgent care.
Doctors discovered the metal toy was trapped in her oesophagus, and she needed surgery to have it removed.
The distressed mother said Britton was taken for surgery after 'multiple, very stressful' attempts to place an IV.
After the ordeal she said: "Fortunately we had a positive outcome, but it was pretty scary there for a while... not only because of the initial ingestion, but then the concern about the composition and structure of the object, and finally, the risk with general anesthesia."
Now she is warning other parents to be careful and said the popular toys could be a choking risk.
She said: "Kids of all ages may be getting them, but not all spinners come with age-appropriate warnings. The bushings pop out easily, so if you have young kids (under 8 yr old) keep in mind that these present a potential choking hazard."
Fidget spinners are said to help children who suffer from Autism and ADHD by allowing them to concentrate their excess energy into one place.
The toys, which have ball barings, are held between the fingers, where a child can flick them and make them spin.