Boy gets 31 magnetic balls lodged in his bladder after shoving them up his penis

A BOY suffering tummy pain was found to have 31 magnetic balls shoved up his penis - and lodged in his bladder.

The 12-year-old, from China, said he'd forced them up his urethra while "exploring" his body.

The unnamed boy, from Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei Province in central China, was only taken to hospital more than two months later, when he started suffering severe abdominal pain.

Urologist Doctor Wang Jun, with Wuhan Children's Hospital, treated the boy on November 13.

He said: "He was brought to us with abdominal pains which lasted five hours.

"It didn't appear to us to be a gastrointestinal problem, so we pulled him aside and asked him.

"He admitted that, about 70 days earlier, he inserted Buckyballs into his urethra."

Buckyballs are popular toys sold in the form of metal spheres, which can be stacked into any shape thanks to their magnetic properties.

According to the hospital, the boy said he forced the toys up his urethra while "exploring his anatomy".

Doctor Wang added: "Buckyballs are magnetic, so they attract each other.

"They tend to slip when trying to grasp them, or they form a large ball-shaped cluster.

"It was very difficult to retrieve them.

"In the end, we removed all 31 by pumping his bladder with air."

The medic noted that filling the young patient's bladder with air made it easier to locate and grasp the foreign bodies, and also avoided the need for a more invasive surgery.

The boy is expected to make a full recovery.