Mystery over water heating element found wedged in man's throat

Baffled doctors discovered a water heating element inside a man's throat after he turned up complaining of a pain in the neck. After noting that the man's throat seemed to be swollen, with what appeared to be a hard and regular ridge, they decided to carry out an x-ray at the hospital in the city of Krasnoyarsk in Central Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Krai region. And they were amazed to find the water heating element possibly from a boiler wedged in the man's throat.



Doctor Oles Kalinin said: "The man was brought in by ambulance suffering from a difficulty in breathing. We were absolutely amazed when we did the X-ray and saw what was blocking his throat. Given that the diameter of the oesophagus in a relaxed state is about 2 to 3 centimetres, it had been stretched to 4 or five times its usual size by the water heating element." He said that as a doctor it was not part of their remit to demand to know how the water heating element had got inside the man's throat, and he said the man had not volunteered the information.



He said: "It was a critical situation, there was a risk at any stage that he might suffocate and die. His oesophagus was completely blocked by the foreign object." Doctors said that they had tried several methods to remove the water heating element which was almost impossible to remove they had been forced to extract it using full forceps, running the risk that they might breach the oesophagus but deciding there was no other possibility. Doctor Kalinin added: "It took about 20 minutes to slowly ease it out, and it's not an operation I've ever had to do before or am I ever likely to do it again.



"I have no idea how on earth they managed to be forced in there, but it must have been difficult given that the natural urge of the human throat is to gag if something foreign is placed inside it." But he added that the young man who recovered quickly once the object removed had simply dressed himself after the operation, politely thanked the doctors, and then left. Doctor Kalinin added: "He told one of the nurses it was an accident, and had noticed it while tucking into his lunch. An unlikely story, but one that will have to remain a mystery it seems."