Sandwich to Be Renamed for Man With Lockjaw

(April 5) -- 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.

Ettmueller 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."

New York-based dentist Dr. Robert Sorin, who hasn't treated Ettmueller, says the dislocation -- more correctly called a "subluxation" -- is unusual, but not unheard of, and says when Ettmueller bit down on the sandwich, his jaw went farther forward than normal, causing it to lock.

Although he says something like what happened to Ettmueller is more likely to happen when the jaw has been stretched previously, Ettmueller says nothing like this has ever happened before.

Sorin believes that Ettmueller may be right because "if this were to have happened before, you'd definitely remember it."

But what makes this case extraordinarily unusual is what DIDN'T happen. Ettmueller didn't run off to a lawyer hoping to get a fat settlement. Instead, he went to them asking for another fat sandwich to replace the one he never finished.

"It wasn't the sandwich's fault, it was my genetics," he said, adding that he could tell the franchise owners were very nervous at first, until Ettmueller's wife jokingly suggested they at least give him a free sandwich.

He did get it, but admits he had to cut it up in 100 pieces.

Which 'Wich national marketing director Tim Schroeder admits the fear of a lawsuit even larger than the sandwich did come to mind when he first heard about the case, but says he heard about the injury when Ettmueller's wife, Caroline, called the guest services line and left a message about it.

Although the mood of the message was light-hearted, Jeff Sinelli, the founder and president of Which 'Wich, was concerned enough to call up Ettmueller personally to see if he was OK.

AOL News was unable to be reach him, but he released this statement: "In our six years of operating Which Wich we have never heard anything quite like this. We are happy to report that Chad is in good spirits and his jaw is healing. In the meantime, we are just supplying him with as many milkshakes as he wants."

Incredibly, Schroeder says the possibility of at least paying for Ettmueller's medical treatments was never discussed and Ettmueller himself says he would have turned down any settlement offered.

Even more amazing than the fact the Ettmueller never even considered threatening even one teensy-weensy, put-my-kids-through-college lawsuit, is the fact that he agreed to let Which 'Wich use his agonizing experience as a marketing tool.

Yes, the company sent a camera crew down to Cumming, Ga., to film an elaborate reenactment of the jaw-dropping incident for YouTube. Something that Ettmueller's wife, Carolyn, believes makes sense.

"One thing that consistently happens is people ask, 'How did this happen?' and 'Where can we get this sandwich?'" she said.

Ettmueller does find it ironic that his job is helping people secure settlements and he has no interest in suing Which 'Wich for something that he believes was caused by his own starvation.

But Ettmueller is demanding satisfaction of a sort. Besides the free sandwich and milkshakes, he figures the least the company can do for his pain and suffering is to change the name of the sandwich to something that might better warn consumers of its inherent dangers.

So Which 'Wich has taken his suggestions under advisement and is considering three new names: "Lock-Jaw," "Double Dislocator," or "Jaw Wrecker" and is putting them up to a fan vote at their company Web site and Facebook fan page.

Ettmueller is partial to "Double Dislocator," but realizes the crowd may be going for "Lockjaw." In fact, he claims he recently heard a 12-year-old boy ask for "Lockjaw" while at Which 'Wich.

"I laughed so hard that all 23 flavors of Dr. Pepper came through my nose," he said.

That's not easy for him. Because of the nature of his injuries, Ettmueller has to be careful when he yawns, screams or laughs for the next six weeks, and even has to prop up his chin with his hand to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.