An 88-year-old man goes to the emergency with an artillery shell in his anus

An 88-year-old man from Toulon, a city in Southeast France, went to the hospital's emergency department on Saturday, with the complaint of a World War One artillery shell stuck in his anus.

According to a report from BFM Toulon Var, the man claimed to have found this shell seven inches in length and 3.5 inches in width (18 cm to 9 cm) at his brother's house.

"An apple, a mango, or even a shaving foam... We are used to finding unusual objects inserted where it should not be. But a shell? Never!" explains one of the emergency hospital staff of Sainte-Musse, in Toulon, working that day.

The hospital was partially evacuated

As a first step, the hospital management asked for help from the security and the fire department for a partial evacuation of the hospital to manage a potential bomb threat.

“We then had to treat our atypical patient, who immediately ensured that the shell was demilitarized,” explains one of the hospital staff to Var-Matin.

Un papy se présente aux urgences avec un obus dans l’anus à Toulon: l’hôpital partiellement évacué https://t.co/WGaFdnJXaZ pic.twitter.com/AfXxtHozep

— Var-matin (@Var_Matin) December 19, 2022

Once deminers established that there was no risk of explosion, the patient was taken into surgery for the removal of the shell from his anus. The 88-year-old man is reportedly in good health.

How do artillery shells explode?

It is quite straightforward: A large gun fires a shell toward the chosen target region, where it is expected to detonate. The explosive charge is set off by a fuse in the shell's nose either immediately upon impact, somewhat after impact, or even before impact, depending.

The blast wave is the second most frequent cause of death and injury; if the round is close enough, the quick increase in pressure can harm soft tissue and destroy structures like houses and automobiles.