This is an unusual article, but it is apparently a very real public health issue and I feel obligated to report on it.
People who collect militaria are quite often extremely passionate about their hobby, but one collector in the UK is definitely pushing it…in more ways than one.
According to the British press, a man recently presented himself for treatment at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in England. Medics were alarmed to find he appeared to have a small artillery shell stuck in his rectum.
The The man had, naturally, “slipped and fallen on it”.
Police and specialists from the British Army’s 11th EOD Regiment were called in, though apparently the staff at the hospital were able to extract the article before their arrival.
The projectile was identified as an armour-piercing solid shot from a World War Two-era six-pounder anti-tank gun. As a result, it had no explosive charge in it, and so is essentially an inert piece of metal.
However, medical professionals have stated that placing items inside your anus can be extremely hazardous…even if they aren’t potentially explosive.
So please consider this a PSA and don’t put pieces of artillery ordnance up your butt; a phrase, I can safely say, that I never thought I’d ever have to spell out.
Related:
The Monster of Ickham Pond. When the British Army Were Called in to Deal with a Killer…Fish!
