Reluctant 'whistle-blower' breathes sigh of relief

A man who swallowed a plastic whistle when he was 9 years old and made shrill whistle sounds after falling asleep at night for 15 years has finally been able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Liu Yougang, 23, successfully had an operation to take the whistle out at West China Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan province on Monday.

Liu swallowed the whistle in 1999 but the doctor did not find it in his body.

Liu told Chengdu Commercial Daily that he always found it difficult to breathe in the past 15 years. He also coughed continuously all year round.

Zhu Hui, a doctor from the bronchoscope room at West China Hospital examined Liu on February 21 and discovered a foreign object wrapped in granulation tissue in his right lower lobe bronchus.

After half an hour of surgery, the whistle was successfully removed. Zhu said, "The whistle had been embedded in my body for many years and had been broken down gradually."

Liu can now speak and eat normally and was recently discharged from hospital.