Pin-cushionboy flown to another hospital
Source: Agencies |
December 18, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
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A 2-year-old boy with more than 40 sewing needles stuck in him was airlifted to another hospital in northeastern Brazil because two of the needles are close to his heart, an official said yesterday.
Police officials, meanwhile, told Brazilian media that the boy's former stepfather is in custody and that he confessed to sticking the needles into the boy at the behest of two women, perhaps in a black magic ritual.
Surgeons at a hospital in the town of Barreiras in Bahia state decided not to try to remove any needles after discovering that two were very near the boy's heart, said an official at Hospital do Oeste.
She said doctors had located 42 needles in the boy - eight fewer than they had reported finding on Wednesday. The boy was in intensive care but was in stable condition before being airlifted 390 kilometers north, she said.
"He'll be flown by helicopter to a hospital in Salvador that has a special heart unit," she said. "He has two needles near his heart and our doctors didn't want to take a chance."
The police inspector in charge of the case, Helder Fernandes Santana, said a black magic ritual was among the motives police were looking into. "All of our officers are focused on this case, gathering information," he said.
On Wednesday, Dr Luiz Cesar Soltoski, who was treating the boy, said surgeons had hoped to remove most of the needles - some as long as 5 centimeters - but those in the lungs will have to wait until the child's breathing improves.
The boy's mother, a maid, took him to a hospital in the small northeastern city of Ibotirama last week, saying he was complaining of pain. Three days later, after X-rays revealed many of the needles, doctors moved him to a larger hospital in nearby Barreiras.
The mother told police she didn't know how the needles got inside her son, whose name was not released because of his age. Police on Wednesday night detained an ex-stepfather of the boy who confessed, according to Brazil's Globo TV.
Police officials, meanwhile, told Brazilian media that the boy's former stepfather is in custody and that he confessed to sticking the needles into the boy at the behest of two women, perhaps in a black magic ritual.
Surgeons at a hospital in the town of Barreiras in Bahia state decided not to try to remove any needles after discovering that two were very near the boy's heart, said an official at Hospital do Oeste.
She said doctors had located 42 needles in the boy - eight fewer than they had reported finding on Wednesday. The boy was in intensive care but was in stable condition before being airlifted 390 kilometers north, she said.
"He'll be flown by helicopter to a hospital in Salvador that has a special heart unit," she said. "He has two needles near his heart and our doctors didn't want to take a chance."
The police inspector in charge of the case, Helder Fernandes Santana, said a black magic ritual was among the motives police were looking into. "All of our officers are focused on this case, gathering information," he said.
On Wednesday, Dr Luiz Cesar Soltoski, who was treating the boy, said surgeons had hoped to remove most of the needles - some as long as 5 centimeters - but those in the lungs will have to wait until the child's breathing improves.
The boy's mother, a maid, took him to a hospital in the small northeastern city of Ibotirama last week, saying he was complaining of pain. Three days later, after X-rays revealed many of the needles, doctors moved him to a larger hospital in nearby Barreiras.
The mother told police she didn't know how the needles got inside her son, whose name was not released because of his age. Police on Wednesday night detained an ex-stepfather of the boy who confessed, according to Brazil's Globo TV.
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