BEIJING, April 18 — An 11-year-old boy from eastern China has become the talk of social media after swallowing a 100g gold bar — and living to tell the tale.
According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), the boy, surnamed Qian, was playing at home in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, when he somehow managed to gulp down the precious metal.
Feeling only a “slight swelling in his stomach,” he casually told his parents — who rushed him to Suzhou University Affiliated Children’s Hospital.
Doctors were stunned when an X-ray revealed a shiny, high-density object lodged in his intestinal tract.
At first, they hoped to avoid surgery and prescribed medication to, quite literally, flush out the problem.
But after two days of radio silence (and no golden result), a second scan showed the bar hadn’t budged.
With the risk of blockage or perforation rising, doctors sprang into action.
They used an endoscopic technique — a less invasive method — and in just half an hour, two surgeons successfully retrieved the smooth, chunky ingot.
The boy was back on solid food within two days and discharged soon after, no worse for wear.
Online, the bizarre incident sparked a gold rush of jokes and questions. “Did he think it was a chocolate bar?” one user quipped.
Another asked, “How did he manage to swallow the gold bar? It’s quite large and hard. I often struggle with swallowing capsules!”
But not everyone was amused.
“The boy is quite mischievous. His parents should focus on better discipline to prevent such incidents in the future,” one commenter warned.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time something metallic ended up in a child’s digestive tract.
SCMP reported that in 2022, a five-year-old in northwestern China swallowed a lock out of curiosity. After nine tense days and increasing pain, doctors removed it in a one-minute procedure.