Doctors perform emergency surgery to remove girl's tongue stuck in bottle An 8-year-old Georgia girl was traumatized last week after her tongue got stuck in a water bottle she was drinking from, MyFoxAtlanta reported. It took doctors more than eight hours and an emergency surgery to remove it. Shantay Small told MyFoxAtlanta her daughter, Jayla, was at cheerleading practice on September 13 when the incident happened. Small said the coaches tried to help her get the bottle off, but to no avail. They called 911 and even paramedics could not free her tongue from the bottle, so they rushed her to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. Small said doctors were left baffled. They tried to work on her, punching holes in the can and even calling in maintenance to cut the bottom of the bottle off. However, Jayla's tongue had become very swollen inside the container, and the bottle had drifted so far back in her mouth that it was almost at her wisdom teeth. She began gagging, so doctors took her into surgery. With Jayla under anesthesia, it took doctors about an hour in the operating room to free her tongue from the bottle. Jayla is on antibiotics and has to use antiseptic mouthwash and sprays to help with the swelling. Her mom said doctors have told them she will likely need speech therapy because of possible nerve damage she may have suffered. Click here for more on this story from MyFoxAtlanta.