Jawbreaker candies are notorious for their toughness, often leading to injuries if bitten into immediately. A college student from Canada recently experienced the literal truth behind their name.
Javeria Wasim, a 19-year-old student, found herself in the hospital with a fractured jaw after attempting to bite into the rock-solid candy. As a result of the injury, she was unable to eat solid food for over a month.
While out shopping with a friend, Javeria Wasim came across the iconic Jawbreaker candy, known for its rock-hard shell and massive size—some nearly as big as a snooker cue ball.
“We got a giant one, the biggest size they had,” Wasim told People magazine.
Before biting into the enormous treat, the duo even asked the shop owner if it was safe to do so. But when Wasim decided to give it a try, things quickly went downhill.
“I bit into it and only made a hole, and my jaw started to hurt,” she explained. Her friend immediately noticed that one of her teeth had become loose, while another in the front appeared damaged.
Moments after the incident, Wasim and her friend called for an ambulance upon realizing the damage extended beyond her teeth. At the hospital, X-rays and a CT scan confirmed the worst: her jaw was fractured, requiring emergency surgery the next day.
“I was crying a lot; everything was blurry,” Wasim recounted to People magazine.
During the one-hour procedure, surgeons repositioned her jaw and placed a stabilizing bar on her top and bottom gums, wiring it shut for six weeks, according to the Daily Mail.
“I had to have surgery, they put my jaw back in place and put a bar into my top and bottom gum and wired it shut,” she explained.
Still shaken by the ordeal, Wasim reflected on her experience, saying, “I used to have [jawbreakers] as a little kid, but I’d never seen anyone bite into the big ones.”
Unfortunately, the challenges of a liquid diet and the aftermath of surgery have led Wasim to swear off candy entirely.
Determined to raise awareness, Wasim now cautions others about the risks of eating jawbreakers, hoping her ordeal serves as a warning to prevent similar injuries.