An Extraordinary Accident.

Manawatu Herald, 25 March 1893, Page 2

An Extraordinary Accident.

A most unusual case came under the notice of Dr Marr, at Bulls, on Wednesday, and narrowly escaped being a most serious one for the party interested. A young man—a flaxcutter at the Ferry mill— on Tuesday night had an epileptic fit, and during his struggles his false teeth became displaced in his mouth and with the gold plate to which they were attached worked their way down and became fixed nine inches down his throat. When the young fellow recovered from the fit he was almost choked with the stoppage. The poor fellow suffered excruciating pain through the night owing to the sharp serrated edges of the plate cutting the sides of the gullet, and yesterday morning came on to Bulls, in company with two of his mates, to procure medical aid. He went to Dr Marr's, who promptly realised the necessity that there was for urgent action. The gold plate, which was about an inch and threequarters in length and three-quarters of an inch in width, with two teeth attached, being of considerable thickness, were too far down the throat for the doctor to see, and he had therefore to depend, entirely on his sense of touch. The instrument he employed was a "probangue." made of whalebone tipped with cotton wadding. This he gently worked down the gullet until he felt that he had arrived at the object of his search, and by turning the instrument round and round got the wad-

ding entangled with the serated edges of the plate. After considerable difficulty, attended with great pain to the young man, owing to every turn the doctor gave the instrument, and with it the plate, the edges cut into the mucus membrane of the gullet. The obstruction was at last brought to the light of day, and the unfortunate young man's partially allayed. Doctor Marr is to be congratulated on the success which attended his efforts.-— Advocate.