Boy inserts 4-inch needle into penis to 'wake himself up'

A 12-year-old boy in north-west China had to undergo emergency surgery after inserting a 4-inch acupuncture needle into his penis. 

The teen in Xi’an, Shaanxi province was rushed to hospital on Friday early morning after his mother noticed he was having difficulty walking, according to local reports. 

The boy, nicknamed Xiaolong, later told his mother that he was trying to keep himself awake while doing his homework when he pushed the 11-centimetre (4.3-inch) needle up his urethra.

Xiaolong was only brought to the Xi’an Children’s Hospital almost 15 hours later because he was too embarrassed to tell his parents, according to Huashang Daily.

Wang Shengxing, director of the hospital’s urology department, said the boy was in a lot pf pain when he was admitted and his parents were quite distressed. 

‘He had difficulty urinating as the needle had pierced into his urethra and came dangerously close to the bladder,’ the doctor said. 

‘He was at risk of infection or bleeding; if it had moved, it could have ruptured his bladder or arteries,’ he added.

His mother, surnamed Li, told reporters that she first noticed something was wrong when she saw her son having problems walking.

‘I told him to speed up, but he kept walking slowly.

I then started to scold him,’ Ms Li said. ‘Then he finally admitted to sticking up a needle into his urethra because he kept nodding off while doing his assignment. I was in shock.’

The acupuncture needle belonged to his grandmother and was usually kept in her drawer.

Surgeons successfully removed the instrument during a two-hour surgery and the boy is expected to make a full recovery.

Dr Wang advised parents to offer proper guidance and education to their children as they undergo puberty. 

There had been a spike in similar cases in China where teenagers would need surgery to remove foreign objects from their bodies.

In January, a 12-year-old boy in Wuhan, Hubei province underwent surgery to remove 39 magnetic beads after inserting them into his penis.

The child, nicknamed Xiaorui, later admitted that he had inserted the beads into his penis out of curiosity.

In May last year, a 14-year-old toddler in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province had to undergo surgery to remove 21 magnetic beads after swallowing them from a toy.

The balls had formed a ring in his stomach, causing a fever and severe vomiting.