Six-year-old swallows magnet; Kolkata doctors use another magnet in rare life-saving procedure

Kolkata: Six-year-old Arafat Ali was discharged from Kolkata Medical College and Hospital on Sunday, nearly a fortnight after accidentally swallowing a small magnet with his food. Doctors removed the object, which had become lodged in his airway and caused breathing difficulties, using another magnet in a rare procedure.

Arafat was discharged from Kolkata Medical College and Hospital on Sunday, bringing relief to his parents, who had been anxiously waiting for his recovery. At their home in Maheshpur, Baduria, in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, his father, Ali Akkas, held him close and thanked the medical team for saving his son's life.
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The boy was admitted to the hospital on November 3 after developing breathing difficulties. Medical examinations revealed that he had swallowed a small, amulet-shaped magnet that had travelled through his airway and become lodged in the right bronchus, obstructing his breathing.

Initial attempts to remove the object were unsuccessful, prompting doctors to explore an unusual approach.

The medical team arranged for a tiny magnet to be specially made by a technician based in Maniktala. It was then attached to a medical instrument and carefully used to pull out the swallowed object.

Doctors involved in the procedure said they could not recall a similar technique having been used at any hospital in the country.
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Arafat's father said he would remain indebted to the doctors for saving his son's life.

"I will always remain indebted to the doctors... I do not know what would have happened to my son had they not been there," he said.

The child's mother, Jannatul Bibi, recalled the distressing period when the initial attempts to remove the magnet failed.

"The magnet could not be removed earlier in the operation theatre, but the doctors used another magnet to remove the object. After 13 days, I finally have my son back in my arms. I cannot thank the doctors enough," she said.

(With PTI inputs)