Just a couple of months ago on a Sunday afternoon, I got a frantic call from a young doctor that his little son had swallowed a coin. The X-ray he sent me on WhatsApp showed the coin in the child’s stomach. A swallowed coin is surely a major concern. Complications are possible. But from the X-ray, one could easily infer that there was no emergency. It was “safely” lodged in the stomach — at least for the time being.
I reassured my friend. In most such cases, the dictum is “wait and see”. Of course, he also knows that, but reassurance was the need of the moment. As a senior doctor, I told him that I would send the X-ray and other details to all my friends in India and across the globe and get their opinions.
Obviously, it was easy to take out the coin from the stomach through an endoscope. But all my friends suggested the typical wait-and-see option. A paediatric endoscope was unavailable in nearby hospitals. The question of whether it was an old coin or a new one also came up because the size difference could matter in a child. Of course, no such clue was immediately available.
I started sending the WhatsApp messages I got from my friends to him. There were clear explanations on how the coin will safely pass through the bends, coils and bottlenecks in the stomach and intestines.
One of the gastroenterologists was the most optimistic, saying, “The Indian rupee is so ingeniously made that it will neither swell in size nor value. So, absolutely nothing to worry.”
Next day dawned with a tragic breaking news on TV channels. A three-year-old child had died after swallowing a coin. We all shuddered. No one wanted to make the first comment. The collective opinion and expertise of an entire batch of doctors from a prestigious government medical college in Kerala had failed. I had no courage to call my friend.
The child could be around four years. TV channels were reporting the death of a three-year-old. Is this the same child or a tragic coincidence? I was looking for escape routes to convince myself.
TV bulletins started coming out with even more startling details: “Doctors everywhere had advised to wait and see.”
Next day morning also, there was no response from the child’s father. By lunchtime, he sent me another X-ray. It was clear. No coin inside. Obviously, he missed the coin in the stool. His son was fit and well. The message was passed to all my friends and they all let a sigh of relief.
But how did the other child die? Nobody knows how and when tragedy strikes. You have to wait and see.
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