VIDEO IS GRAPHIC. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
A Vietnamese woman who entered surgery to have tumours removed from her throat recently had something very, very different extracted instead (surprise, surgeons!).
The 63-year-old from Ha Giang province had first visited doctors complaining of crippling headaches which would last for weeks, the Daily Mail reported.
A medical check-up revealed what appeared to be tumours in the woman’s upper oesophagus (wrong call, docs!) and surgery to remove the cysts was promptly scheduled.
But before an incision was even made at the start of the operation, surgeons were startled to spot the true culprit behind the woman’s migraines – an engorged parasite lodged in one of her throat sinuses.
Prior to deciding to remove the blood-sucker, the doctors decided to film the procedure (thank you, doctors) – and the repugnant video clip found its way online (naturally!) and has since gone viral on social media.
The 1-minute-and-30-second footage begins with a shot of the mercifully-anesthetised woman’s wide open mouth, which is crowded with metal clamps and plastic tubes. But a closer peek down the woman’s throat reveals the unmistakable presence of a leech, which appears to feel embarrassed to have been found out.
Without much ado, one of the surgeons inserts a pincer-like tool down the woman’s throat and grasps the little sucker by its midsection. A tug-of-war ensues as the leech clings for dear life to the wall of the woman’s oesophagus – but the surgeon triumphs, and the parasite is extracted from the woman’s oral cavity… all two inches of it.
Wriggling angrily, the leech is placed on its new home – a cloth-covered surgeon’s instrument tray, exposed for all the world to see. Viewers of the video are likely to feel a lump in THEIR throats as the camera focuses in on the not-so-photogenic creature.
According to the Daily Mail, the Vietnamese doctors estimate that the vampiric worm had been “living it up” in the woman’s throat for up to three months. It is believed that the patient came into contact with her unauthorised tenant while bathing in spring water.