Mattannur woman relieved of whistle stuck in her windpipe for 25 years

The plastic whistle retrieved from a 40-year-old woman's windpipe

Pariyaram: A plastic whistle, swallowed accidentally at the age of 15, was taken out from the windpipe of a woman in Kannur on Tuesday after 25 years.

The 40-year-old woman from Mattannur in Kannur had consulted Dr Jaffer Basheer of the Taluk Hospital at Taliparamba the other day, seeking a remedy for the persistent cough that had been troubling her for years.

She was stunned when she came to know that the whistle, she had swallowed at the age of 15, was still stuck in the windpipe. The doctors too were startled as they found out the reason for the persistent cough she had been suffering since 15.

An X-Ray revealed a black spot in the windpipe. In the subsequent scanning, it was found that something was stuck in the windpipe. But the woman, a homemaker, could not remember having swallowed anything. After much deliberation, she remembered about the whistle she had swallowed at 15.

She had bought a balloon fitted with a whistle and had accidentally swallowed the whistle while playing with friends.

The object could be taken out only using a video bronchoscope. Dr Jaffer then contacted Dr Rajeev Ram of the pulmonology department at the Pariyaram Government Medical College. The woman was taken to the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital on Tuesday.

Dr Jaffer Basheeer, Dr Rajeev Ram, Dr D K Manoj, and Dr K V Padmanabhan, along with the help of the emergency wing, took out the plastic whistle from the woman's windpipe.

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