Five-year-old boy's cough mystifies doctors until a plastic flower is found lodged in his throat

Little Marley was first diagnosed with asthma after he began to suffer from respiratory symptoms as a toddler, but his mother, a wife of Adelaide Skye Enjakavic, was not convinced Little Marley was first diagnosed with asthma after beginning to suffer from respiratory symptoms as a tot

An eight-year-old boy who had been coughing for five years is due for surgery after doctors discovered a plastic flower lodged in his throat.

Little Marley was first diagnosed with asthma after he began to suffer from respiratory symptoms as a toddler, but his mother, Skye Enjakavic, was unconvinced.

Skye continued to seek medical help, but for five years she failed to shed light on what was tormenting her son.

Speaking to the Today Show, Marley's father, Jay Enjakovic, said his son's issues have impacted his ability to play sports like soccer and basketball, as well as his ability not to feed.

Things had gone “downhill pretty fast,” he said.

"He couldn't miss his games, coughing a lot more, bringing lots of food, bringing water every time he ate."

Marley's condition deteriorated in December 2021, with the little boy coughing for hours (

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Handout)

"That's when Skye and I really pushed and pushed and asked more questions. We really wanted an answer because we felt like it wasn't asthma," he continued.

Marley's condition deteriorated in December 2021, with the little boy coughing for hours.

His cough also forced him to vomit, and one day he was rushed from his home in Adelaide, Australia, to hospital struggling to breathe.

At the hospital, Marley's lungs were so inflamed that the doctor could not see the cause of the problem.

He was transferred to the intensive care unit where he underwent surgery and doctors discovered a small plastic flower lodged in his throat.

His mother said she was "absolutely shocked" by the discovery of the object, which appeared to belong to an arts and crafts hoard.

However, she was also "really relieved" to finally have an answer, after a period of worrying that he was born with a medical condition.