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

The shell is removed from his anus successfully.
Mert Erdemir
Surgeons remove objects from patient
Surgeons remove objects from patient

South_agency/iStock 

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.

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.