A Chinese man swallowed an 8-inch metal spoon as a stupid stunt, a year ago. It got stuck in his esophagus, but seeing as he could eat and drink normally, he never sought medical assistance to have it removed. He claims that he only started experiencing chest pains a few days ago, after being punched in the chest.

The unnamed man from China’s Xinjiang autonomous region told doctors that he had swallowed a stainless steel spoon during a drunken bet. He told his friends that he could swallow the spoon and then pull it back up again by tying a string to its handle. It must of sounded like a good idea at the time, but things didn’t go according to plan, and the eating utensil got stuck in the man’s food pipe. Instead of going to the hospital immediately, the man waited to see if the spoon prevented him from eating and drinking normally. It didn’t, so he lived with it stuck in his esophagus for the last year.

The spoon would hav probably remained stuck in the man’s esophagus for much longer, if he hadn’t received a punch to the chest a few days ago, which started causing him excruciating pain and trouble breathing. He finally went to the Xinjiang Meikuang General Hospital seeking help, and casually told doctors that he had been living with a metal spoon stuck in his esophagus for a year.

“I was shocked. I have never anything like this,” Dr Yu Xiwu wrote in a statement released by the hospital. “When we admitted the patient, his oesophagus was already infected.”

After discussing the best course of action, doctors at Xinjiang Meikuang General Hospital decided that the best way to extract the spoon was the way it had gone in, through the mouth. The patient was put under general anaesthetic and a team spent two hours trying to remove the 8-inch spoon using endoscopy equipment.

The hospital informed Chinese media that the man is recovering well and is due to be discharged soon.

Mail Online reports that this case is rare, but certainly not unique. For example, in 2015, doctors managed to remove a six-inch metal spoon from a woman who had reportedly swallowed it while eating noodles “too fast”.