Lock Jaw from a Sandwich?

Of course this had to happen in Georgia.



A Georgia man bit off more than he could chew -- literally -- when he dislocated his jaw while trying to eat a super-sized sandwich.

Chad Ettmueller, a structured settlement broker in Cumming, Ga., suffered a locked jaw for 14 hours after biting into a double meat, double cheese sandwich. But what may be more amazing is that Ettmueller is going against the grain of this lawsuit-happy country and NOT taking the makers of the sandwich to court.

Here's the back story: Ettmueller, 38, is a fan of Which 'Wich, a Dallas-based restaurant chain specializing in sandwiches with 105 locations in 18 states. So when he wanted to celebrate his son's second place showing in a local talent show, it was a natural for him to take his family to the restaurant.

ttmueller is especially fond of a sandwich called the "Wicked," which has five different types of meat and three cheeses. Because he hadn't eaten all day, he ordered a version with twice the meat and cheese, which made his jaw drop.

That's because Ettmueller's mouth got stuck before he could have that very first bite and he couldn't shut it.

Adding insult to his injuries, and pain to his suffering, Ettmueller's three kids thought he was joking and started laughing at his misery.

"It was so bad that I went outside and punched my jaw trying to get it back in place," Ettmueller said.

When that didn't work, he and his family went to a local Urgent Care clinic where the medical staff tried to help him when they weren't stifling their giggles.

Ettmueller is still talking about the bizarre methods used to treat his locked jaw -- and he's not really supposed to talk!



"At one point, they tried to sedate, but I woke up after five minutes to see a guy on top of me standing on the bed trying to leverage his weight to move my jaw forward," Ettmueller said.

When that didn't work, he was transported via ambulance to Emory University where a doctor declared he had "double dislocation of the mandible," or, in layman's terms, he had dislocated his jaw.

Ettmueller had his jaw locked in the open mouth, insert foot (or sandwich) position for more than 14 hours before doctors were able to surgically manipulate it back to its normal area.

During that time, Ettmueller's best buddy, Paul Addison, decided to get revenge for his friend by going to Ettmueller's minivan -- where the leftover sandwich was being stored -- and eat it.

"It had to die," he said. "But it was a mercy killing."

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