Buzz
The human body has several natural openings, each with a purpose you’re likely familiar with. However, sometimes—due to accidents, poor decisions, or sheer bad luck—these openings can become gateways for foreign objects, whether non-living or alive. Removing these items can lead to both embarrassment and potential medical fame, like the man who believed he had lung cancer only to find out it was a toy traffic cone he had accidentally inhaled four decades earlier.
The Traffic Cone case is just one example. Here are more stories of individuals who faced awkward explanations in the ER.
1. A LIVING EEL // RECTUM
In January 2004, the medical journal Surgery detailed an extraordinary case at Kwong Wah Hospital in Hong Kong. A 50-year-old man was admitted for stomach pain, and an x-ray revealed a 20-inch eel inside him. The man confessed he had inserted the eel into his rectum to alleviate constipation. It remains unclear how he believed the eel would help, but it only worsened his condition. During surgery, the live eel was found biting his splenic flexure, and a rectal perforation required a colostomy. This wasn’t an isolated incident; in 2012, Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand reported a similar case involving a man with a rectal eel.
2. 40 FOLDING KNIVES // STOMACH
Pica refers to the compulsion to consume non-food items like coins, metal, or other indigestible objects. In 2016, surgeons at Amritsar Corporate Hospital in India encountered this firsthand when a 42-year-old police officer was admitted for severe stomach pain. The cause? He had swallowed 40 folding knives, most measuring seven inches. Some were closed, while others were open, causing internal bleeding. The man admitted to swallowing them over two months, claiming it was an “impulse.” All knives were successfully removed, and he vowed never to repeat the act.
3. A ROACH // EAR
Hendrik Helmer from Darwin, Australia, shared his story with ABC Radio Darwin in 2014. He woke up one night with sharp ear pain, fearing a poisonous spider had crawled in. After attempting to vacuum the intruder out, he visited Royal Darwin Hospital. Doctors poured olive oil into his ear to coax the creature out, but the pain worsened. Using forceps, they extracted a nearly one-inch-long cockroach. Helmer recovered but experienced temporary balance and jaw issues. (The cockroach, however, did not survive.)
4. A NAIL // BRAIN
For Chicago resident Dante Autullo, a routine day of home remodeling took a bizarre turn when he began experiencing headaches and nausea. Unbeknownst to him, he had accidentally fired a nail into his head with a nail gun the previous day, mistakenly thinking the nail had missed him. The nail remained embedded in his brain for 36 hours before being surgically removed, leaving him surprisingly unharmed.
5. A LEGO TIRE // NOSE
Children’s fascination with their nostrils continues to baffle adults, as evidenced by the case of 6-year-old Isaak Lasson from Salt Lake City. At age three, he inserted a LEGO tire into his nose, leading to chronic sinus issues. When questioned, Lasson vaguely recalled putting “spaghetti” up his nose. A pediatrician discovered the fungal-covered tire and removed it, theorizing that the boy had folded it to fit inside his nostril.
6. A PEA PLANT // LUNG
In 2010, Ron Sveden, a 75-year-old Cape Cod resident, was relieved to learn that his chest discomfort wasn’t caused by lung cancer, as doctors initially feared. Instead, they discovered a pea plant trying to grow in his lung. Sveden had accidentally inhaled a pea seed, which began to sprout. (It didn’t grow much, as pea plants require sunlight.) After treatment, Sveden humorously noted that his hospital meal included peas. "I laughed to myself and ate them," he told a Boston TV reporter.
7. A SOFT DRINK BOTTLE // RECTUM
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission annually releases a detailed and professional report listing objects found lodged in patients’ rectums and other orifices, ranging from peanut butter jars to remote controls. In 2009, the Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology documented a case involving a man who sought medical help after failing to remove a soda bottle from his rectum. Initial efforts to extract it failed due to the slippery mucus coating its surface. Doctors lightly sedated the patient and instructed him to push as if having a bowel movement. Once the bottle partially emerged, they used forceps to remove it. The report also mentioned previous cases involving broomsticks and axe handles, advising the patient to seek counseling for his “perversion disorder” to avoid future incidents.
8. A WENDY’S PLASTIC FORK // LUNG
Eating too quickly can lead to unexpected consequences, as demonstrated by a North Carolina man who endured chronic coughing and fatigue for two years before doctors found a piece of a fast-food fork lodged in his lung. John Manley, 50, sought medical help in 2009 for his symptoms. A pulmonologist at Duke University discovered a plastic fork fragment with the word “hamburgers” imprinted on it, consistent with Wendy's branding. After removing the object, Manley’s symptoms disappeared.
All images provided by iStock.
