gold fish has another fish in mouth

Question
QUESTION: My comet tail goldfish apparently tried to swallow another fish and now has this now dead fish , head first in her mouth. She is about 7 inches long and the fish she swallowed was only about 3/4 inch painted tetra. The problem is she has had this now dead fish lodged in her mouth towards the back of her throat and can't seem to swallow the tetra or spit it out. My guess is that maybe the dorsal fin of the tetra may be the cause of the problem. She has had it stuck for about 3.5 days and as I am sure she is uncomfortable and the tetra is slowly breaking down and decomposing. I have made an attempt to grab her and with smooth sanitized plyers, tried to remove the tetra by twisting and pulling back with no luck at all but getting a very small piece of the tetra. I Know that fish eat fish in the wild but I am very concerned that she may be choking or may not be able to swallow the fish or spit it up. Any thoughts on what I may be able to do? she of course has not been eating since this and has some slight swelling near her mouth /cheek area. Should I make another attempt to try to remove it or just let time take it's course. or might you have any other suggestions?

ANSWER: Hi Karyn,
This is a tough one. I would be tempted to try to take pieces of the tetra out by using a tiny pair of scissors or nail trimmers for babies enough so the poor goldfish can maybe spit the remainder of the tetra out or swallow it either. It will be stressful for her. And I can't guarantee this will work. I've never had this happen with any of my fish before. Would tweezers work?

But best wishes and I hope she can get rid of the lodged fish. :(Poor goldfish.
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My concern is that I might do irrepairable damage to her by doing this . Could she die or would she eventually end up swallowing this fish?

Answer
Hi,
You definitely don't want to pull as this could damage her. I can only give suggestions and I cannot guarantee anything.

I just think maybe if you tried to gently loosen the fish by very small movements twisting just a bit back and forth. I know how hard it will be. Try to get somebody to help if you can.

I wish you the best and I hope your goldfish recovers.
Karen~