RAZOR BLADE SWALLOWED

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1932, Page 7

RAZOR BLADE SWALLOWED

man SUFFERS NO INJURY. SYDNEY DOCTORS PUZZLED. Sydney, Aug, 25. Doctors at the Sydney Hospital are astonished that although John Pugh, aged 36, swallowed a safety razor blade 12 days ago —and it has not yet been recovered —lie has suffered practically no pain. As far as can be discovered by X-ray examinations he has not suffered any internal injury, and it is hoped that the blade will eventually be removed. This is probably the first case in history of a man swallowing such a sharp instrument who has not suffered any illeffects. He had placed the blade in his mouth after he had dismantled the razor, and he says that he swallowed the blade without knowing that he had done so. When he realised that it had slipped down his throat he made all haste to the hospital, and doctors heard his story with amazement. His case created quite a sensation among members of the medical profession, and many of them were disinclined to believe that the blade had been swallowed until it was revealed plainly in an X-ray photograph. A later plate showed that the blade had moved a considerable distance in the stomach, and the fact that it caused no apparent injury caused even greater excitement among doctors. Pugh felt so well during the period ho was under observation that the doctors did not restrict his diet in any way. They believed that the food he had taken had entwined itself around the blade, effectively blunting it. However, Pugh will have to remain in hospital for the present.

Pugh, it seems, has been in the habit of swallowing “foreign bodies.” He has often swallowed pins without feeling any effects, and for a. fortnight early this year- he was in hospital with .a large safety pin in his stomach.