--- title: Man Sneezes Out Toy Dart That Left Him Sniffling for Four Decades description: A 51-year-old English man sneezed out a toy part that had been obstructing his nasal passage since childhood, finally relieving himself from more than 40 years of congested breathing. canonical: https://time.com/3857471/man-sneezes-out-toy-dart/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-13T17:58:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:19:45.882Z og:title: Man Sneezes Out Toy Dart That Left Him Sniffling for Four Decades og:description: A 51-year-old English man sneezed out a toy part that had been obstructing his nasal passage since childhood, finally relieving himself from more than 40 years of congested breathing. og:url: https://time.com/3857471/man-sneezes-out-toy-dart/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man Sneezes Out Toy Dart That Left Him Sniffling for Four Decades twitter:description: A 51-year-old English man sneezed out a toy part that had been obstructing his nasal passage since childhood, finally relieving himself from more than 40 years of congested breathing. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Man Sneezes Out Toy Dart That Left Him Sniffling for 4 Decades > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey May 13, 2015 5:58 PM UTC  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey May 13, 2015 5:58 PM UTC A 51-year-old English man [sneezed out a toy part](http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/12/bullseye-man-sneezes-out-toy-dart-after-44-years) that had been obstructing his nasal passage since childhood, finally relieving himself from more than 40 years of congested breathing. Steve Easton was sitting at his computer when he was overcome by a sneezing fit, the _Guardian_ reports. One fateful sneeze dislodged a penny-sized suction cup from his nasal cavity and sent it rocketing out of his nostril. “I thought, ‘what’s this,” Easton [told](http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/12/bullseye-man-sneezes-out-toy-dart-after-44-years) the _Guardian._ “Where the hell has this come from?'” A phone call to his mother confirmed what she had suspected 44 years earlier — that the rubber tip of a toy dart had vanished up his nose, beyond the reach of doctors. 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