Toddler in Russia Found With 5-Yuan Coin Stuck in Throat for a Month, Doctors Say

YAKUTSK, Russia — Doctors in Russia’s Far East have removed a Chinese 5-yuan coin from the throat of a 1-year-old girl who had been living with it for about a month, according to local health officials.

The girl, from the Churapchinsky District in Yakutia — Russia’s largest region — swallowed the coin weeks ago, her family told doctors.

She had been coughing on and off for a month, but her parents thought it was a common cold.

During a chest X-ray at a local clinic, doctors spotted the large coin lodged in the middle part of her esophagus.

She was rushed to the Republican Hospital in Yakutsk, where a surgical team removed the coin using an endoscope while she was under general anesthesia.

“The operation went smoothly and the child’s condition is stable,” said Dr. Maria Yeremeyeva, who led the procedure.

The family said they had kept the coin as a souvenir from a trip to China.

Many people in Yakutia travel to China during their vacations.

Photo caption

Dr. Maria Yeremeyeva, who led the surgery to remove a 5-yuan coin from a toddler’s throat, at the Republican Hospital in Yakutsk. (Courtesy of Republican Hospital of Yakutia)