After indulging in a hefty seafood feast, a man in Singapore suddenly began experiencing difficulty swallowing and non-stop vomiting. Alarmed, he quickly sought medical help, where healthcare professionals discovered something disturbing stuck in his esophagus: an entire octopus.
From Oddity Central:
At first, doctors tried the “push technique”, which usually proves very successful, but it soon became apparent that the octopus would not go down without a fight, and applying too much pressure risked rupturing the esophagus. So they tried getting the endoscope past the octopus into the stomach and then retroflexing it. They then had to use forceps to grab the sea creature and pull it out of the esophagus.
It’s unclear why the man swallowed the octopus whole, but, luckily, he recovered very well after the gastrointestinal procedure and was discharged after two days. At least he didn’t try to eat the marine creature alive, or he could have wound up one of the six people on average who die asphyxiated every year. Apparently, the octopuses desperately glue their tentacles to people’s throats as they are swallowed, cutting off the passage of air completely.
Well folks, this serves as a great reminder that the next time you eat a raw octopus, make sure you chew it thoroughly.
