In a scary incident, a Kerala man had a close shave with death on Tuesday after he accidentally swallowed a fish that later got stuck in his throat, causing him to struggle to breathe for almost an hour.
60-year-old Krishnan, who lives with a speech disability, had gone fishing near his home, located in Chavakkad in Thrissur. He caught a small pearl spot fish, and in order to catch another, he kept this one between his teeth to free his hands. However, the fish wriggled a little, went into his mouth and got lodged in the middle of his throat.
Krishnan began to struggle to breathe and he started to draw attention and seek help. Some people came running towards him, but couldn’t understand what he was saying.
A few men then took him to a hospital in Chavakkad on a motorcycle, but from there, he was referred to Amala Institute of Medical Sciences for expert treatment.
“Only the fish’s tail was visible when he came here,” Dr Arjun G Menon, associate professor of the institute, said in a statement. He added that Krishnan was in danger, as the fish was stuck deep in his throat. He also says that Krishnan could have been in grave danger as the fish was stuck deep in the throat.
“Usually, a person can even become brain-dead as the windpipe gets blocked, but in his case, since the fish was alive, and kept moving inside, luckily that did not happen,” the doctor stated.
The doctor added that since the fish was a species called Pearl Spot, one that has a lot of spines, it was very difficult to pull it out. Krishnan was rushed to the emergency room where a team of expert doctors tried to extract the struggling fish out of his throat.
Finally, after a surgery involving four doctors, four house surgeons and three nurses, the fish was removed alive from Krishnan’s throat.
The institute later released a video showing the surgery and how the doctors managed to remove the fish. In the end, the video also advised fishermen to close their mouths and fish safely.
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