French man sparks hospital evacuation after arriving with a WWI artillery shell stuck in his rectum

Doctors were left shell shocked after an 88-year-old Frenchman arrived at hospital with a World War One bomb stuck in his rectum.

The unnamed senior citizen arrived at the Hospital Sainte Musse in Toulon, southern France on Saturday evening in the hope of having the artillery shell dislodged from his anus.

But his arrival sparked a bomb scare as hospital officials feared the antique explosive would detonate, French news organisation Var-Matin reported.

Bomb disposal experts soon arrived at the scene and determined that there was little risk of the shell exploding inside the man.

Once it was dislodged from the man’s rectum, doctors measured the shell at 8inches (20cm) long and over 2inches (5cm) wide. The incident took place at Hospital Sainte Musse in Toulon, southern France on Saturday evening

It is understood that the man had inserted it in his bottom for sexual pleasure. 

A spokesperson for Hospital Sainte Musse said: ‘An emergency occurred from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday evening that required the intervention of bomb disposal personnel, the evacuation of adult and pediatric emergencies as well as the diversion of incoming emergencies.’

The spokesperson added: ‘We had to manage the risk in a reactive framework. When in doubt, we took all the precautions.’

Despite doctors being understandably fearful for their safety if they were to surgically remove the object, detonation experts were able to put them at ease.

It emerged that the bomb was a collectors item from the First World War and was a commonly used explosive by the French military in the early 1900s.

Doctors at Hospital Sainte Musse in Toulon, southern France (pictured), were left shell shocked after an 88-year-old Frenchman arrived at hospital with a World War One bomb stuck in his rectum

In what must have been a painful series of events for the elderly man, doctors eventually got around to removing the shell.

Surgeons worked to cut open his abdomen and remove the shell.

Once it was dislodged from the man’s rectum, doctors measured the shell at 8inches (20cm) long and over 2inches (5cm) wide.

The hospital spokesperson said the man is now recovering well and is in ‘good health’.