New Delhi (CNN): 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.”
Malhotra said it took his team about
two days to form a diagnosis and
surgery plan.
The five-hour operation took place
Friday in the northern Indian city of
Amritsar, a Sikh holy city in the state
of Punjab.
Malhotra said they found foldable
knives, which when fully extended
were about seven inches long.
“He [the patient] says 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,”
Malhotra 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.
Malhotra says the patient is now “out
of danger” and is set to be
discharged in a couple of days.
He won’t be discharged until he’s
cleared by psychiatrists, which is set
to happen in a couple of days, two
doctors at the hospital told CNN.
‘Try spinach’
But the big question remains — why
did he start eating knives?
“I don’t know why I used to swallow
knives,” the patient told CNN. “I just
enjoyed its taste and I was addicted
… how people get addicted to alcohol
and other things, my situation was
similar.”
Malhotra believes the patient has a
very rare mental disorder that most
likely has not been published in any
international medical journal.
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.
The patient told doctors that he has
no idea why he started eating knives
but that he “developed a taste for
metal” and “loved the way blades
tasted.”
The patient even managed to keep
his habit secret from his family,
according to Malhotra.
Now, Malhotra says, the patient
claims he won’t even touch a knife
anymore.
“I will never do such acts ever
again,” the patient said. “I’m a new
person now.”
If the urge does strike, Malhotra and
his team gave him some advice —
“we told him if you ever feel like you
need more iron in your body, try
spinach.”
