Man had metal chopstick stuck in his throat for eight years after refusing to have it removed
A man from Liaoning province in China lived with the pain of having a 12cm chopstick stuck in his neck for eight years.
The man known only by his surname Wang accidentally swallowed the metal chopstick during a drunken meal back in 2018.
After an initial examination, doctors had advised an operation that would involve cutting the side of his neck to retrieve the utensil.
Instead of instantly having it removed, the 46-year-old "alcoholic" told doctors he didn't want to have his neck cut open out of fear, deciding to instead live with the chopstick lodged in his throat, tolerating years of discomfort and pain.
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At the time he reported that he had felt 'periodic discomfort' whenever he ate, but did not have any breathing problems.
He convinced himself this was simply a 'normal reaction' to his alcohol consumption.
Mr Wang only sought out medical help when the pain intensified and it became incredibly hard to swallow.
He was unable to put off the pain anymore, and sought out help from Dr's at the Dalian Municipal Central Hospital.
Fortunately for him, surgeons successfully extracted the chopstick using a minimally invasive technique through Mr Wang's mouth.
“He told us a chopstick was trapped in his throat,” said Dr. Huang Weipeng to the South China Post.
“I thought it happened just now, but he said this was eight years ago."
Luckily, the man's vocal cords were not affected or badly damaged by the chopstick, and he's expected to make a full recovery.
Mr Wang was discharged from the hospital just days after the operation.
Man lived 52 years with toothbrush in his intestine
As if this wasn't strange enough, he's not the only man in China who's had something stuck inside him for a long time.
In 2025, doctors in China removed a toothbrush from the intestine of a 64-year-old man who went to the hospital, complaining of stomach pain.
Doctors discovered that the 17cm long toothbrush had been stuck in the mans body for 52 years.
The man was named as Mr Yang, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
He told them he remembered swallowing the toothbrush when he was just 12, but was soo afraid to tell his parents.
Yang believed that the toothbrush would dissolve on its own and went about his life like nothing had happened.
Thomas Bamford