Man became human cashbox

French doctors were taken aback when they discovered the reason for a patient’s sore, swollen stomach: he had swallowed around 350 coins with assorted necklaces and needles.

The 62-year-old man went to the emergency room of Cholet General Hospital in central western France in January 2002. He had a history of major psychiatric illness, was suffering from stomach pain, and could not eat or move his bowels.