The South China Morning Post reported on June 25 that a 64-year-old man underwent surgery in Anhui province to remove a toothbrush that he had swallowed when he was 12. The man, identified only as a Mr. Yang, had begun to feel a strange sensation in his stomach, so he sought medical help. He told doctors that he had been too afraid to tell his parents at the time of the incident. The nearly 7-inch-long brush was lodged in his small intestine, and doctors worked for 80 minutes to remove it. The doctors said the brush was stuck in a crook of the intestine and hadn’t moved for decades.
The hard way
An unnamed Bristol, Conn., man was charged with burglary, trespassing and criminal mischief on June 22 after he tried to enter a public building through the chimney and got stuck, the Associated Press reported. According to police, the man’s dog was trapped in the building’s restroom after the doors automatically locked, and rather than call for help, he tried to shimmy down the chimney. He was eventually freed and was unharmed. “If he had just contacted police in the first place, we might have been able to avoid the situation,” a spokesperson said.
An entrepreneurial spirit
A mother, father and adult son in the Czech Republic have pleaded guilty to running a fake dental clinic in their home, the Associated Press reported on June 19. They all face up to eight years in prison for the ruse, during which the son would look up how to do procedures (including extractions) on the internet; the mother, a nurse, would assist, and the dad made prosthetic devices. They raked in about $185,000 before being caught after a patient consulted another dentist about complications following treatment.
Repeat offender
Jacky Jhaj, 39, was arrested for arranging a mock wedding to a 9-year-old Ukrainian girl at Disneyland Paris on June 21, the BBC reported. Police were alerted to the event by an actor who had been hired to portray the father of the bride. Jhaj was charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft.
It’s a mystery
The French Interior Ministry reported that about 150 people were pricked by syringe needles during a nationwide music festival, according to CNN. Over the weekend of June 21, French police detained 14 people in connection with the “spiking” incidents, which left some victims feeling unwell. Some were hospitalized for testing. One 22-year-old concertgoer said she went to the hospital and then filed a police report. “I told myself maybe it can have an impact,” she said.
Bright idea
Employees at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado hit the slopes in early June, but not to ski. It was the Mountain Cleanup Day. KDVR-TV reported that 150 workers cleared about 780 pounds of debris off the mountains — stuff that had fallen out of pockets or flown off skiers as they schussed down the runs. The items included a hamburger flipper, a $2 Canadian coin, piles of ski poles and a COVID-19 vaccination record.
Freak accident
A lifeguard in Asbury Park, N.J., was setting a chair umbrella in its holder on June 25 when it ended up impaling her through her shoulder, WABC-TV reported. “She fell backwards off the bench and the umbrella came with her ... and landed on her arm,” said lifeguard Joe Bongiovanni. Firefighters cut most of the pole away but left a piece about a foot long in her arm before she was transported to the hospital, where she was listed as being in stable condition.
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