BRASILIA, Brazil — A two-year-old Brazilian boy has as many as 50 metal sewing needles inside his body and a doctor treating the boy said Wednesday they were apparently stuck there one by one.
Dr. Luiz Cesar Soltoski told The Associated Press that surgeons hope to remove most of the needles — some as long as 2 inches (5 centimetres)— but because some are stuck in his lungs, they have to wait until the child’s breathing improves.
Some cannot be removed; they are too close to vital organs or inside them, Soltoski said.
The boy’s mother, a maid, brought him to a hospital in the small northeastern city of Ibotirama on Thursday, saying he was complaining of pain. Three days later, after X-rays revealed some of the needles, doctors had him shifted to a larger hospital in Barreiras.
The mother told police she doesn’t know how the needles got inside her son, but police have opened an investigation. The boy’s name was withheld because of his age.
The boy’s father, Gessivaldo Alves, told Brazil’s A Tarde newspaper that he believes his son could have been a victim of a black magic ritual.