Iron in the diet: man swallows wife's medal in quarrel

A man swallowed his wife's medal during a bitter quarrel on Sunday in Northwest China.

The couple lives in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province. The husband is a sanda (Chinese boxing) provincial champion, while his wife is a taekwondo provincial champion. Early Sunday morning, the couple had an argument, with the husband swallowing his wife's medal in fury.

However, the man felt an uncomfortable in the pit of his chest after swallowing the medal. With his mother's company, the man went to the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Doctors arranged a gastroscopy for him and found the medal was stuck in the man's esophagus.

The medal is around three centimeters in diameter, and part of its edge is sharp. Since the medal was struck for only a short time, the man was not hurt by the edge.

The medal was successfully removed, and the man was in good condition after the operation.

"The biggest challenge of the operation was that the medal might be stuck in the throat, or other tiny things might enter the patient's windpipe during the operation, which is more hurtful. Fortunately, the operation went well and the medal was removed quickly," Zhang Juan, a doctor of the hospital, said.