One-year-old girl swallows two-inch-long nail: Detailed Tragic Survival

In a tragic case in Bengaluru, a one-year-old girl swallowed a two-inch-long nail, later she survived the ordeal with timely intervention.  

According to The New Indian Express report, the child’s father was carrying out some construction work in the house and had got nails. The toddler, on seeing the nails, started to play with them. At first, the child's father took them away and kept them out of her reach. The girl, however, took a nail and put it in her mouth. In minutes, the shocked man tried to remove the nail from his daughter’s mouth, but by then she had swallowed it.

Media reports further state that, as the girl did not show any symptom for 30 minutes, her parents ignored the matter. Later, relatives told them that it was a serious issue and the child needs to be taken to a hospital. The parents brought the girl to Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Bengaluru and an X-ray was done which showed that the nail was in her large intestine.

According to Dr Arun Garg, senior consultant, Pediatric Gastroenterologist said. “A colonoscopy was done using forceps and the nail was removed. But it was not an easy task. The child was small and the nail was big. The nail could have gone anywhere and ruptured her organs. Even during the procedure, there were chances the nail would have caused damage. It took us two hours to remove the nail and it was successfully done without any damage to her organs."