At the hospital, doctors gave Madison Martin a tetanus shot

Madison Martin was walking to the bathroom when she stepped on the pair of jeans she’d worn the night before and left on the floor. Instantly, she heard a crunch
At first, the St. Petersburg, Fla., local didn’t think much of it and continued making her way to the bathroom. But as she sat down, she noticed that something was off — her jeans were attached to her foot
When she looked closer, she noticed a key was jammed deep inside her foot

Editor’s Note: Warning that this article contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some readers.

Madison Martin was in her apartment, walking to the bathroom when she stepped on the pair of jeans she’d worn the night before and left on the floor. Instantly, she heard a crunch.

At first, the St. Petersburg, Fla., local didn’t think much of it and continued making her way to the bathroom. But as she sat down, she noticed that something was off — her jeans were attached to her foot.

“I wondered to myself, ‘What the…,’ ” Martin, 24, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Then I saw the giant hole in my foot and felt the pocket, only to find out there was a key in my foot. Immediately, I started to panic, sweat, get lightheaded and almost pass out.”

“My mind started racing,” she adds. “I called my friend in panic to come save me. He couldn’t believe what I was telling him. He lives 10 minutes away and said, ‘Okay, stay calm, I’ll be there in five.’ “

A photo of Madison Martin.Madison Martin

While Martin waited for her friend George to arrive, despite being in immense pain with her jeans dangling from her foot, she knew she had to get dressed. She wrapped the jeans around her foot, hopped in pain, and managed to get clothes on. Once dressed, she cut the jeans pocket out as much as she could, but a portion of the pocket was still lodged in her foot, along with the key.

Afterward, she laid on the floor, waiting for her friend to arrive.

“I didn’t even try to remove it because I saw how deep the key was, and number one, I would’ve passed out if I removed it myself,” the bartender says. “Number two, I didn’t want to remove it and maybe hit a vein or nerve, or honestly, anything that could cause excessive bleeding, further damage … or bleed out and die.”

Madison Martin with the key in her foot.Madison Martin

Eventually her friend arrived, and when he did, she says he told her she looked “completely yellow” and like she was going to pass out. He carried her to the car and drove her to the hospital. Once there, he ran in to get a wheelchair and wheeled her inside.

As soon she she rolled into the emergency room, she recalls how the whole staff was stunned.

“They put me in a room immediately, and everyone was in shock,” she says. “Every employee on the ER floor came to see this freak accident. At this point, I was in so much pain and freaking out, all I could do was laugh. Everyone couldn’t believe a key that thick and dull, along with the jean pocket, was able to lodge into my foot so perfectly.”

“It didn’t make sense, and no one could believe their eyes or begin to make it make sense,” she adds. “They injected lidocaine into the area and yanked it right out! I screamed and kept saying, ‘I need a tequila shot’ the whole time.”

At the hospital, doctors gave Martin a tetanus shot, applied lidocaine, removed the key and wrapped her foot up. She wasn’t given any stitches because it was the bottom of her foot, an area more prone to infection. The whole time she was in the emergency room, Martin and her friend captured the situation on camera.

A few days later she decided to post some of the photos of the incident on TikTok, not thinking much of it. But when she woke up the next day after posting, she noticed the video had gone viral, amassing more than 10.5 million views and 7,000 comments.

“My friends were blowing up my phone saying I had gone viral, and I could absolutely not believe it,” she says. “I was laughing even more because, again, what is my life? Always crazy things happen to me.”

“The comments are absolutely hysterical. I can’t stop reading them. The funniest comments I’ve come across are ‘foot locker,’ ‘you’ve unlocked the key to your sole’ and ‘new fear unlocked.’ “

Madison Martin with the key.Madison Martin

In the days following the incident, Martin remained in pain, and it was hard for her to walk. But, since she had a full week of work ahead, she had to push through and “hobble” around.

Looking back on the moment now, she adds how there’s one piece of information that makes things a whole lot funnier: she doesn’t know what the key belongs to.

“The night prior I was trying to locate the key to open my mailbox as I was trying to retrieve a present I got for my friend Cody on TikTok Shop,” she says. “When I went down to the mailbox it was the wrong key, and I just put it in my pocket. Who would’ve thought the next day I would step on the jeans and the key would go right into my foot.”

“It was such a ridiculous incident to happen and all I could do was laugh to ease the pain,” she says. “Only these type of crazy incidents happen to me — all my friends know crazy unexplainable events happen to me all the time. I joke around and say, ‘On this week’s episode of Madison’s life.’ “

“I hope people learn: don’t leave keys in your pocket,” she continues. And “don’t leave your clothes on the floor. Laundry baskets are made for a reason.”