A man has been admitted at Coast Provincial General Hospital in serious condition after swallowing his toothbrush while brushing his teeth.
David Charo has been living with the toothbrush in his stomach for six days now and has started to experience difficulty in breathing.
Mr Charo, 34, swallowed the toothbrush last Sunday while preparing to leave for work in Bamba, Kilifi.
His plans for the day were cut short when the toothbrush stuck on his throat and later descended to his stomach.
Efforts by his young brother Julius Charo to fish out the toothbrush during the incident failed, forcing the family to rush him to hospital.
“Instead it got deep into the stomach. I rushed him to the nearby hospital and got referred here where apart from taking the x-ray, nothing has been done to him,” said Mr Julius.
The meal of ugali that Mr Charo ate the night before the incident was his last. He now relies on taking drinks only, according to his family.
Our team talked to him in his hospital bed at Coast Provincial General Hospital.
“I can only sleep or stand. I cannot bend to do anything. Whenever I try to bend I feel the toothbrush,” he said.
The father of two is now worried for his life after developing breathing difficulties since yesterday.
“The toothbrush has stayed in my stomach for long and the doctors have only been telling me that I need an operation with nothing much being done,” said Mr Charo.
According to a doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity, the toothbrush may result to obstruction of the oesophagus if it stays longer in the patient’s body.
“Since the object is blunt, it can cause no major harm if it stays in. It not very dangerous but it can cause the complication in his breathing system,” said the doctor.
Mr Charo’s family blamed the hospital of neglecting their kin.
“We came here on Sunday and to date nothing has been done. We have waited to get directions so that we can plan ourselves but we are not being told anything by the management,” said Mr Charo’s elder brother Hamisi Charo.
Contacted the matter CPGH chief administrator Dr Iqbal Khandwalla said the patient had been attended to, but referred journalists to the County Health chief officer Dr Khadija Shikely for further information.
Telephone calls Dr Shikely to her mobile number went answered.
