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WEST JORDAN — Utah is home to world-class skiing, five national parks and now the world's largest tonsils.
In 2012, Murray resident Patrick Kelleher said he began having pressure in the back of his throat that would cause him to get "sick really, really bad." He had the same symptoms and illness off and on for about a year and a half, but said it never bothered him enough to see a doctor.
He never realized the cause of his sickness until August 2013, when his tonsils became so inflamed that they cut off his air supply and he was rushed to the emergency room.
"The emergency room immediately sent me to an ear, nose and throat doctor who had to physically puncture them and drain out some fluid in order to bring down the swelling," Kelleher said.
Due to a lack of health insurance, Kelleher wasn't able to schedule an appointment to have his tonsils removed until May 9, 2014. Dr. Ryan Gilbert removed the tonsils at the South Valley Ear, Nose & Throat clinic in West Jordan.
Gilbert has worked at the clinic since 2009 and typically removes between two to eight pairs of tonsils each week. He said most procedures take about 30 minutes, but due to the large size of Kelleher's tonsils, the surgery lasted almost an hour. Gilbert said when he was performing the surgery, he realized the tonsils were "easily the largest" he'd ever seen.
"A couple of years ago, I had read a story or an article somewhere about someone breaking the Guinness World Record for having the biggest tonsils," Gilbert said. "So it was kind of in the back of my mind, and so as we took out Patrick's first tonsil, I had somebody look up what the Guinness World Record was. And we got a measurer in the operating room and measured it."
I thought it was just kind of a funny thing because you always kind of think of Guinness as people that actually work and attempt to make a record. All I had was just inflamed tonsils.
–Patrick Kelleher
Kelleher's left tonsil measured at 2.4 inches long, 1.4 inches wide, 1.2 inches thick and 28 grams while his right tonsil was 2 inches long, 1.4 inches wide, 1 inch thick and weighed 25 grams.
"Ordinarily, when a person has their tonsils removed, they can fit both tonsils in a single specimen jar, side by side," Kelleher said. "But my tonsils were so big they (each) needed a jar of their own."
Gilbert talked to Kelleher and the two men decided to apply for the world record for having the largest tonsils removed. They began the application paperwork in May 2014 and were officially awarded the Guinness World Record on June 8, 2015.
"I was just kind of shocked," Kelleher said. "I thought it was just kind of a funny thing because you always kind of think of Guinness as people that actually work and attempt to make a record. All I had was just inflamed tonsils."
Gilbert jokingly said the hospital now has "bragging rights" for removing the largest tonsils in the world and he plans to display the certificate in his office.
