INDORE: In one of the rare surgeries, a team of city-based doctors has saved life of a 12-year-old boy who had swallowed a nine-centimeter long live fish while playing on the riverside with his friends.

According to the doctors, Anil Barela, a resident of Khargone district, was playing with his friends on May 23. It was a routine for the kids to swallow live fish but this time when Anil swallowed the fish, instead of going to food pipe it entered the left lung through the wind pipe.

Anil soon started feeling short of breath and his breathing rate was reported 34 per minute while 17 per minute is considered to be normal. He had to undergo X-ray when the oxygen level in blood was measured 80 percent, 18% per cent lower than the normal.

Dr Pramod Jhawar, chest specialist and bronchoscope expert said, "X-ray displayed the left lung completely opaque due to the presence of a foreign object. The fish was live and taking its last breath when the bronchoscopy was done, restricting the functioning of both the longs resulting in low intake of oxygen." He said, "It is the first case of this sort that we have come across in 20 years time."

Dr Jhawar with ENT specialist Dr Nikhil Saxena and anesthetists performed a 45-miutes long surgery to get the fish out of the lungs. Dr Saxena said, "We have come across cases where kids swallow plastic or other materials, but this case was unique in its own way,"