As first days on the job go, this one is certainly up there among the most bizarre on record.
25-year-old physician Varanya Nganthavee, from Thailand, was working her first ever shift at a Bangkok hospital when she came across a very surreal case indeed.
On Monday, June 24, the young doctor had been examining a patient with ear pain when she made a startling discovery. After looking into the patient’s ear, Varanya said she could see a live gecko wriggling around inside.
Dr Nganthavee treated the patient’s ear with anaesthetic drops before a nurse was able to extract the little lizard using tweezers. According to the new medical grad, ‘it wasn’t just a small bug, it was a gecko! It was still alive and moving’.
The gecko had reportedly been making a home for itself inside the patient’s head for a full two days, leaving doctors perplexed as to how it had sneaked into her ear hole in the first place, according to Daily Mail Australia.
Sharing a photograph of the mini intruder on Facebook, Dr Nganthavee remarked:
This was my last case of the day…. I am so confused. How did a huge gecko crawl into a tiny ear hole?
The lizard in question is said to be a juvenile small house gecko, which are commonly known as jing-jok in Thailand.
According to Thai tourism site, Thailand Breeze:
These tiny geckos are more common than tokays. They’re light brown but can change colors to various shades.
Their skin is thin and pretty smooth. House geckos grow up to about 4 inches (10 cm) long. They also make quite a loud and unique clicking sound. The suction-like feet enable them to climb and run on ceilings and walls.
After the gecko was successfully removed, Dr Nganthavee was concerned the patient may still have parts of the gecko tail in her ear and so took her to be examined by a specialist ear, nose and throat doctor the very next day.
Fortunately all was well and Dr Nganthavee received some encouraging compliments on how she had dealt with this unexpected situation.
Taking to Facebook, Dr Nganthavee wrote:
The doctor confirmed that the ear had been cleared and that no gecko tail remains, I’m very happy! The doctor complimented me for doing a good job… I could cry.
A very well done to real-life Dr House, Dr Varanya Nganthavee! No doubt she can take any case life throws at her after this startling introduction to the world of medicine.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.