It's not actually that surprising to read about people (and even dogs!) having surgery to remove strange objects from their bodies. Every year, hospitals are flooded with patients that need to have medical instruments, nails, fish hooks, splinters, and other objects removed. What is uncommon, however, is for someone to have something strange inside them for over FIFTY years and not even know it!
Such is the story of Arthur Lampitt, as first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 51 years ago, Arthur took his brand new 1963 Ford Thunderbird out on his way to work, got into a terrible accident, and the rest… well, we'll leave it to you to read about the unexpected turn the story takes over five decades later!
And make sure you let us know about the strangest thing you've ever gotten stuck inside of you!
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This is a 1963 Ford Thunderbird, probably very similar to the brand new one real estate agent Arthur Lampitt was driving while on his way to show a house 51 years ago.
Unfortunately for Arthur (and the T-Bird), he ended up getting into a head-on collision with a massive truck during that trip.
As you can see from the wreckage, the damage was great. Luckily, Arthur escaped with only a broken hip and cut on his arm. The broken hip, of course, garnered most of the Granite City, Illinois, doctors' attention. He had surgery on the hip, and his arm healed up nicely on its own.
But roughly 10–15 years ago, Arthur's arm set off the courthouse metal detector while he was working in Jerseyville, Illinois. X-rays revealed that SOMETHING the size of a pencil was in his arm, but, since it didn't cause Arthur any pain, doctors told him to leave it be. That is, until it started to bother him recently while moving concrete blocks.
If you look closely at this next photo, you MIGHT be able to figure out the mystery of just what has been hiding out in Arthur's arm for 51 years! See anything missing? C'mon, keep looking...
YES! It turns out that Arthur has had the turn signal lever from his 1963 Ford Thunderbird stuck INSIDE of his arm ever since the accident over five decades ago.
After a 45-minute outpatient surgery, Arthur was in the recovery room and Dr. Timothy Lang was able to present him and his wife Betty (who married him two years after the accident) with the 7-inch metal lever. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he might "make a key chain out of it." Unbelievable!
