This is the shocking X-ray image which revealed to doctors that an unknown object blocking a child’s throat is Mickey Mouse.
The youngster had been playing alone in his room at the family home in Dongguan which is a prefecture-level city in China’s central Guangdong Province, when his mother heard him crying.
She quickly realised that he had swallowed something and was in distress, and rushed him to the hospital where an x-ray revealed the object that was obstructing his throat was a Mickey Mouse.
The X-Ray showed it to be stuck between his Adam’s apple and his sternum, and an emergency operation was arranged with a gastroenterologist to remove the foreign body.
The expert said they were amazed the child managed to swallow the toy, which was 5.5 centimetres (2.1 inches) high and 2.5 centimetres (0.9 inches) wide.
They said: “Such a foreign body can compress the oesophagus, and can not only cause a tear but also cause part of it to die (necrosis) and therefore needs to be removed immediately.
Qin Rong, director of the Department of Gastroenterology, said that the foreign body was removed using a gastroscope under general anaesthesia.
He added that there was no easy way to get a grip on toy that also become slippery after being coated with saliva.
The decision to use endoscopy rather than surgery was made after discovering that the toy was part of a necklace and therefore had a clasp on the top and this was revealed in a photograph that also showed food remnants around the top of the toy.
When it was finally removed Qin Rong said it was one of the largest items ever found to have been swallowed by a child, and the youngster is now recovering but still under observation in hospital to make sure there are no occasions.
