We’ve all been there; your desk has been transformed into a mountain of work. You’re tired, guilt-ridden about finishing off a report and constantly fighting the urge to sleep.
A 12-year-old boy in China was in a similar situation, nodding off while trying to tackle his homework. However, he was rushed to hospital after taking an extreme measure to stay awake – he stuck a four-inch acupuncture needle into his penis.
The boy, nicknamed Xiaolong, was taken to Xi’an Children’s Hospital in north-west China on July 26, after his mother noticed he was struggling to walk.
Watch a video outlining the boy’s ordeal below:
After 15 hours of pain and embarrassment, Xiaolong finally confessed to his parents that he pushed an 11-centimetre (4.3-inch) needle up his urethra.
Wang Shengxing, director of the hospital’s urology department, said:
He had difficulty urinating as the needle had pierced into his urethra and came dangerously close to the bladder. He was at risk of infection or bleeding; if it had moved, it could have ruptured his bladder or arteries.
Xiaolong’s mother first noticed there was something wrong with her son’s walking.
She told reporters:
I told him to speed up, but he kept walking slowly. I then started to scold him. Then he finally admitted to sticking up a needle into his urethra because he kept nodding off while doing his assignment. I was in shock.
In two hours of emergency surgery, the doctors safely removed the needle and the young boy is expected to make a full recovery. The acupuncture instrument belonged to the boy’s grandmother, and was usually kept in a secure drawer.
Unfortunately, there has been a bizarre spike in cases across China of young teenagers having objects removed from their bodies. For example, in January, a 12-year-old in Wuhan, Hubei province had to undergo surgery to remove 39 magnetic beads from his penis. While an 11-year-old in east China had 70 magnetic beads removed from his in March.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.