A 5p coin that a schoolboy claims had been lodged in his nostril for ten years was expelled.
Umair Qamar, now 14 years old, claims he has hazy memories of stuffing the silver coin up a nostril ten years ago.
But according to his mother, despite numerous sore noses and hospital visits, the coin was never discovered until last week.
The adolescent, who is from Croydon in south London, claims that last Sunday he felt something up his nose.
When his mother instructed him to blow vigorously, a 5p coin unexpectedly appeared, which brought back memories for Umair of his early years.
He said: ‘I think I got it stuck up there when I was three or four years old – I can’t really remember.
‘When I got over the shock of it all, I felt pure relief – but it definitely took me a while to get over the surprise!’
Umair claims that earlier this week, he struggled down the stairs while clutching his nose in agony because it was “hurting a bit more than usual.”
He said: ‘I thought there was something stuck in there as I could feel something hard in my nose so I went back upstairs and held my left nostril, breathed in and then breathed out of my right one.’
And, with cotton buds in both ears, Umair managed to breathe out so hard that the coin popped out of his nostril.
His mother Afsheen Qamar, 43, described the incident as ‘completely bizarre’.
The nursery manager said: ‘It happened so randomly – I wasn’t expecting it at all! I called him for lunch but he was holding his nose – so I told him to blow it.
‘After 15 minutes he came back down, just stood there and said, ‘well, a 5p coin came out’.
‘We all stopped eating. I remember asking him, ‘are you serious?’. He’s a very laidback and quite serious child, so I’m sure you can imagine my shock’.
Ms Qamar said Umair had complained about breathing problems while playing football over the years.
But the mum-of-two claimed: ‘I have taken him to the doctors a few times but it didn’t even cross their minds to check his nose.
‘I just cannot believe we never knew – Umair does silly things and doesn’t tell us.’
Professor Claire Hopkins is an ear, nose and throat consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London.
She said: ‘Children have a fascination with inserting things into their nostrils – be that their finger, beads, lego bricks or, on one occasion, a couple of lobster claws.
‘5p coins are the perfect size to disappear up the nose and be forgotten; 4-year-olds are easily distracted and may fail to mention the money box trick to their parent.’
And she added: ‘Large foreign bodies can block the nose or cause sinus issues while small foreign bodies, such as a small coin, may remain in the nasal cavity for many years before they present, often with unilateral crusting or discharge.’
In 2020, a Russian man made headlines after having a penny removed from his nostril that had apparently been lodged there for more than 50 years.