Man Thought He Had a Lung Tumor: Turned Out To Be a Toy He Inhaled as a Kid

By THC Staff | September 29, 2017

 

Don’t make that expression, your face will get stuck like that. And don’t swallow gum, it’ll stick to your insides. Though we know as adults these sayings aren’t true, every once in a while a story comes along that makes you wonder how close you were to harm when you were playing as a kid.

The BBC writes that a 47-year-old man underwent surgery for what was assumed to be a tumor in his lung. Doctors discovered the mass through an X-ray after he complained of a persistent cough for over a year. But when surgeons removed the mass, they discovered that the tumor was triangularly shaped. In fact, it was a “…long lost Playmobil traffic cone!”

The report in the British Medical Journal said, “Following the procedure, the patient reported that he regularly played with and even swallowed pieces of Playmobil during his childhood. He recalled being given this Playmobil set for his seventh birthday and believes he aspirated the toy traffic cone soon after.”

Doctors are baffled that he never felt any negative effects from the tiny traffic cone in the 40 years it was lodged in his lung. They suspect that his body adjusted to the object being there as he grew.