"...Sammy was in the pediatric intensive care unit. He was in an irreversible coma, hooked up to a respirator, with tubes coming out of his nose and mouth. He had permanent brain damage but he was not brain dead. He had been that way for nine months, since August 2, when he choked on a piece of a yellow birthday balloon which burst as it was being blown up. The balloon fragment got stuck in Sammy's windpipe, cutting off the oxygen supply to his brain..."

So I am offically afraid of ballons now. Especially the yellow birthday ones that burst when being blown up and then get fragments of it stuck in your windpipe, cutting off the oxygen supply to your brain. Yeah. Those suck.