Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Asia Wire Report
Doctors have removed this leaking battery from a teenager’s stomach some 14 days after she swallowed it because her family waited two weeks to see whether she would poop it out.
The 19-year-old, whose name has not been given, is said to have grabbed the rechargeable battery out of a radio and swallowed it following an argument with her mum.
The young woman, who lives with her grandparents in the city of Changchun in north-eastern China’s Jilin Province, nearly swallowed a second battery before her grandfather stopped her.
Despite knowing that the teen had a battery larger than a standard size triple-A in her stomach, the grandparents chose not to bring her to hospital.
According to Changchun Tumor Hospital, her elderly relatives waited 14 days and repeatedly fed her Chinese leek (Allium tuberosum) to loosen her bowels and believing it would help her get rid of the battery naturally.
When they saw no sign of the rechargeable battery after two weeks, they took her to the medical facility on 10th January.
Doctor Yu Changbo told local media: “The patient swallowed the battery a long while ago. It had already been 14 days.
“Fortunately, the battery did not make its way into her bowels and remained in her stomach.”
The hospital scheduled a gastroscopy for the teenager, and the blue battery was found in her stomach shortly after.
The cell had leaked and caused chemical burns inside her digestive tract, but her injuries were not severe.
Doctor Yi added: “The biggest challenge was the large size of the object.
“It posed a great challenge as we tried to remove it via her throat.
“It took several attempts before we finally succeeded.”
The procedure took about 60 minutes, with the patient recovering well after treatment, the hospital reported.
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