A Chinese man endured eight years with a metal chopstick lodged in his throat after swallowing the utensil during a drunken meal in 2018.
Mr Wang, a 46-year-old described as an "alcoholic" in a hospital case study published in March, initially sought medical attention shortly after the incident but declined treatment.
He did not want surgeons to slice open his neck to retrieve the five-inch object.
Instead, the man chose to live with the foreign body trapped in his throat, tolerating years of discomfort and pain.
The extraordinary case has left medical professionals and the public astonished at how long Mr Wang managed to cope with such an unusual predicament before finally agreeing to intervention.
Throughout the years that followed, Mr Wang experienced periodic discomfort whenever he ate.
He convinced himself this was simply a "normal reaction" from his alcohol consumption.
Despite the constant presence of the chopstick in his throat, he reported no breathing difficulties.
A Chinese man endured eight years with a metal chopstick lodged in his throat after swallowing the utensil during a drunken meal in 2018
|CTS NEWS/YOUTUBE
However, the situation deteriorated significantly in recent weeks when the pain intensified, and swallowing became increasingly problematic.
Unable to ignore the worsening symptoms any longer, Mr Wang finally sought help from doctors at Dalian Municipal Central Hospital in Liaoning Province.
He requested that they examine the long-standing obstruction.
Surgeons successfully extracted the chopstick using a minimally invasive technique through Mr Wang's mouth.
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He did not want surgeons to slice open his neck to retrieve the five-inch object
|CTS NEWS/YOUTUBE
This meant there was no need for a neck incision.
Dr Huang Weipeng, who treated the patient, recalled his astonishment upon learning the timeline: "He told us a chopstick was trapped in his throat.
"I thought it happened just now, but he said this was eight years ago."
Neither Mr Wang's vocal cords nor the surrounding mucous membrane sustained any injury from the prolonged presence of the metal object.
Chopsticks are very common in Chinese dining
|GETTY
Both functioned normally following the operation.
The patient was discharged within days and is anticipated to recover fully.
The case has led to widespread reaction online, with one user writing: "My God, it is so long. How did he endure it for such a long time?"
Another said: "I felt pain when simply reading this story."
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