That’s not the way to get more iron in your diet.
Doctors in India were taken aback after removing keys, nail clippers, and even a knife from the stomach of a young man, reported to be in his early twenties.
Graphic footage of the team extracting a tool chest’s worth of implements is going viral.
The gut-wrenching issue came to light after the unnamed patient’s mother noticed that she was missing the keys to her wardrobe closet, Viral Press reported.
When she asked her son where they were, the keyholder said he had swallowed him — a statement she initially took as a joke.
However, unbeknownst to her at the time, the man had indeed ingested the door opener.
She realized he wasn’t lying after transporting him to the hospital in Motihari, Bihar, where an ultrasound revealed that he’d ingested said keys along with other inedible objects.
During the ensuing operation, presiding surgeon Dr. Kumar and his team also extracted nail cutters and a folding knife.
Despite the delicate nature of the operation, the patient is reportedly recovering well.
His mother has blamed the bizarre stunt on her progeny’s addiction to social media and the internet, claiming that his mental health was affected by the inordinate amount of time he spent in front of a screen.
Dr. Kumar seconded her theory, claiming that the boy’s actions were indeed influenced by his excessive smartphone usage.
The man’s official diagnosis remains a mystery.
However, his actions could possibly be indicative of pica, a mental health condition where the sufferer “compulsively swallows items that aren’t food.”
The affliction predominantly affects young children, pregnant women and people with psychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disabilities and even schizophrenia.
