Human beings have an innate penchant for finding trouble. Some get stuck in walls while wandering where they definitely shouldn’t be. Others find strange items in their backyards — which may or may not be haunted — and then post them on TikTok. That’s just the beauty of humanity.
Sometimes, though, these adventures are far from fun — or pain-free. A quick look at Brooklyn’s TikTok account (@brooklyninspiress) will show you as much. Apparently, all it takes is a rat-tail comb to send an adult like Brooklyn to the emergency room, no doubt with a hefty hospital bill in tow. But how could a simple comb lead to such a situation? Allow us to explain.
Technically, even Brooklyn herself doesn’t remember the exact details that led to her injury, but here’s what we gathered from her four-part series. While at her best friend’s house, Brooklyn was braiding a client’s hair when, suddenly, she stepped on a rat-tail comb lying on the floor — and ended up with the comb lodged deep in her foot.
Realizing what had happened, Brooklyn tried to remove it, but only the plastic part came out, while the metal tail remained embedded in her foot. After everyone recognized this as an actual emergency, they all jumped into action — her friend’s mom prayed, and then her client called EMS. According to Brooklyn, the metal part of the comb was about four inches long, with roughly three inches stuck inside her foot. Ouch.
Although Brooklyn assures everyone she has a high pain tolerance, she admitted that her foot went numb, which meant she didn’t immediately feel the pain. Amid all the commotion, Brooklyn candidly shares that she doesn’t exactly remember how the comb ended up inside her foot. She suspects she may have stepped on it, tilted it, and then, while trying to move, accidentally drove the metal end into her foot.
Eventually, EMS arrived they took her to the hospital for surgery. That’s right — a simple rat-tail comb sent the TikToker to surgery since no one could remove it safely. By this point, her ambulance video had gone viral — not only because of her odd injury but also her calm demeanor, which led to comments like, “How aren’t you screaming?” and “Omggg, I’d freak out and immediately pull it out and end up bleeding everywhere.”
While we can’t be sure if pulling it out would have led to extreme bleeding — after all, Grey’s Anatomy has taught us to leave sharp objects alone — since even the EMS hesitated, it’s no wonder Brooklyn wasn’t able to remove it herself. And it’s a good thing she didn’t. Brooklyn says that nurses deemed it an emergency, giving her a saline wash to prevent infection. Later, X-rays revealed the metal had pierced two different joints in her foot, which ultimately required surgery.
Although it’s certainly an unconventional injury, several users shared their own stories of getting things lodged in their feet. A hairstylist even recounted a similar experience: “I’m a hairstylist, and I’ve had a rat-tail comb stuck in my foot before, but I panicked and snatched it out because I had a client in the chair. it hurt so bad.”
Surprisingly, some users questioned Brooklyn’s story, doubting her explanation since she couldn’t precisely recount how it happened. One user commented, “This makes no sense. Still doesn’t explain why you couldn’t pull it out, or how it poked you sideways.” Well, Brooklyn’s memory lapse, likely has a simple explanation: trauma.
According to Advanced Health Recovery, it’s common not to remember the exact cause of an injury due to the trauma involved. As their website explains, “You may not remember doing anything specific to cause an injury,” because it could be “an accumulation of small, undetectable traumas that result in the pain you’re experiencing.” Well, get better soon, Brooklyn, and remember to store your combs safely.