Doctors remove 40 knives from man’s stomach

A man in India spent two months swallowing knives and had 40 of them surgically removed from his stomach, according to the doctor who led the operation.

“He had a wild urge to consume metal. Even for us, the experienced surgeons, it was frightening,” Dr. Jatinder Malhotra told CNN. “We were so nervous… a small mistake could have taken the patient’s life. In my 20 years of practice, I have never seen anything like it,” he added.


Malhotra said it took his team about two days to form a diagnosis and surgery plan and the operation lasted for five hours.

He revealed that they found foldable knives, which when fully extended were about seven inches long.

“The patient told us that he swallowed some knives folded and some unfolded. When we took out the knives, some were found folded, some were open, and some had even started rusting and were broken,” the doctor said.

The patient, a 42-year-old father of two, told CNN he’s feeling much better.

“I’m sorry I let my family down. I’ll be forever thankful to doctors and hospital staff for saving my life,” he said. “I don’t know why I used to swallow knives, I just enjoyed its taste and was addicted,” he added.

The patient is currently under the continuous supervision of the hospital’s in-house psychiatric team and will soon be visited by independent mental health experts, doctors said.