Farmer swallowed hundreds of coins and nails because he was 'depressed'

When a man arrived at a hospital in India complaining of a stomach ache, doctors suspected it might be a run-of-the-mill case of food poisoning or an ulcer.

However they were amazed to find the man had actually swallowed hundreds of coins and nails.

Over a three year period Rajpal Singh, 34, had swallowed 140 coins, 150 nails and a handful of nuts, bolts and batteries.

He had also gulped down screws, nails and magnets.  

When doctors carried out an endoscopy – inserting a long, thin, tube with a camera attached to the end – it revealed the hundreds of foreign objects in his stomach.

Mr Singh, a farmer from Bathinda in India's western state of Punjab, said his bizarre habit began after he fell into a depression, and eating metal objects brought him comfort.

He said: 'I used to gulp down coins and metals with fruit juice or milk.

'Due to family problems I had slipped into depression and got hooked onto this weird habit.

'Doctors have told me those sharp objects would have punctured my intestine and I would have eventually died.

'I feel much more relaxed now. I am never going to do this again.'

Mr Singh claims he didn't realise his stomach pain was due to his habit of eating metal objects.

He went to many medical centres in Punjab complaining of a painful ache in his abdomen, but no doctors could diagnose the problem.

Finally, Dr Gagandeep Goyal, a gastroentologist at a local hospital, carried out an X-ray and revealed the mass of metal deep in Mr Singh's stomach.

He has since carried out more than 240 endoscopy procedures to remove the objects - yet some still remain. 

Leading a team of five doctors, he also carried out a nine hour operation to remove more of the metal, yet Mr Singh will still need another operation to remove the rest.

Dr Goyal said: 'The patient came to us with severe stomach pain. 

When we did the endoscopy we were shocked to see so many foreign bodies, including coins and sharp objects in his stomach.

'Though we have managed to remove most of them, there are still sharp injects and coins in his stomach.

'His body is too fragile to sustain another operation now so we plan to operate again in about seven days and remove the remaining objects.'

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter