Eleven months back, a 12-year-old-boy from Baruipur accidentally swallowed a small plastic whistle which was removed after an intensive surgery recently at the government-run SSKM hospital. As per reports, the boy did not inform the parents and managed to survive with for 11 months, unless recently when he complained about breathing issues at swimming.
Identified as Raihan Laskar, the 12-year-old was eating potato chips while swallowed the whistle in January, and this was informed to the doctors at SSKM’s Institute of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery. Before approaching SSKM he was rushed to the National Medical College hospital for treatment, however, the doctors there were not able to operate the child.
PTI quoted the doctor who said, "After that whenever the boy tried to open his mouth the shrill sound of the whistle would emanate. His parents did not initially realise the difficulty he was facing, but when he went to a nearby pond, they found that Raihan could not remain under water like before for even a minute. He was facing trouble and complained of chest pain and breathing problem."
"My son did not tell us about the accident. He told us about it only he started having problems breathing. After doctors at the medical college could not do anything, we tried everything to help him, but his health condition deteriorated. We then took him to a local doctor in Baruipur who found that Raihan had started having infections and referred my son to SSKM hospital," the father added.
A team of doctors led by Prof Arunabha Sengupta from the Institute of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery operated the boy. Sharing his thought about the surgery, the doctor said, “We conducted the necessary X-Ray and CT scan to locate the whistle inside the lungs and administered necessary medicines to stabilise his condition. The surgery to remove the whistle was carried out after it. We carried out a bronchoscopy and then using an optical force pulled out the whistle from the body organ," a senior doctor of the hospital said.
As per reports, the health condition of the boy is stable, and he is recovering. The father also thanked the team of doctors for their efforts and support.