Woman, 57, is left BLIND in one eye after the 2.75inch-long whistle on her pressure cooker burst off and lodged in her skull
- Munda Birsi, 57, was cooking dal when she suffered the life-changing injury
- She left the pressure cooker on the stove while cooking dal and forgot about it
- The whistle was around 2.75 inches (7cm) long and 0.8 inches (2cm) wide
An Indian woman was blinded in one eye after part of her pressure cooker blew off and lodged in her skull.
Munda Birsi, 57, was cooking dal when she suffered the life-changing injury, which almost killed her.
She left the pressure cooker on the gas stove while cooking dal and forgot about it while she went to cut hay in her back garden.
Local reports say the whistle of the pressure cooker burst off and pierced her skull next to her left eye.
The whistle, which was 2.75 inches (7cm) long and 0.8 inches (2cm) wide, indicates when the cooker is too hot.
Ms Birsi reportedly did not hear the whistle screaming because it was drowned out by the hay-cutter she was using in the garden.
Munda Birsi, 57, was cooking dal when she suffered the life-changing injury, which almost killed her (pictured, the whistle lodged in her skull)
Ms Birsi reportedly did not hear the whistle screaming because it was drowned out by the hay-cutter she was using in the garden
She was taken to a local hospital and given first aid – but doctors recommended she be taken to a better equipped super-specialty hospital.
Therefore, she was taken to a hospital 34.8 miles (56km) north of her village in Khunti district, Jharkhand – a state in the east of India.
Medics couldn’t see the bullet-sized bit of metal from the outside – only a CT scan revealed it was deeply jammed inside her skull.
Doctors then performed an operation to remove the whistle on September 6, two days after the bizarre injury.
Ms Birdi was discharged from Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Super Speciality Hospital, Ranchi, the next day.
Dr Ashish Joy Soren, who led the procedure, said they had to firstly loosen the area around the whistle. It is not clear how long it took.
They did this by tackling adhesions – bands of scar tissue that develop after injury – surrounding the whistle.
Dr Soren added that they also had to ensure no bleeding occurred while removing the metallic object.
The whistle, which was 2.75 inches (7cm) long and 0.8 inches (2cm) wide, indicates when the cooker is too hot. Ms Birsi reportedly did not hear the whistle screaming because it was drowned out by the hay-cutter she was using in the garden (pictured, scans of her injury)
According to reports, the team of doctors kept backup plans in case it went wrong and blood spurted out.
‘It was a bit difficult to pull out the whistle as vigorous manoeuvre would damage the surrounding tissues.’
Dr Soren added: ‘We gently pulled the whistle and packed the wound opening with the gauze pieces.
‘The surgery was successful and we could save the life of woman, though her left eye could not be saved.’
Dr Anindya Anuradha, head of the ophthalmology department, said: ‘The woman was cooking dal (pulses) in a pressure cooker.
‘After putting the cooker on the gas stove, she got busy cutting hay with the help of a hay cutter in her back yard.
‘The cooking whistle sound of the pressure cooker got drowned by the noisy hay cutter machine. After an hour, she remembered about the cooker and rushed to the kitchen.
‘And, while she was taking the pressure cooker off the gas stove, the boiling steam inside the cooker burst the whistle with full force, piercing the woman’s face and got stuck deep inside the skull bone that separates the eyes from the brain.’