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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Milica Cosic

Schoolboy who got 5p stuck up nose when he was 4 sneezes it out 10 years later

A schoolboy was left stunned after sneezing a five pence coin out of his nose - which he claims was stuck there for 10 years.

Umair Qamar, now 14, recalled the shocking moment he shoved the silver piece up his nose nearly a decade ago.

Despite multiple trips to the doctors and sore noses, his mum says the coin was never found. That is, until last week.

The teenager, from Croydon, south London, says he felt something up his nose last Sunday.

After following his mum's instructions, to his surprise a 5p coin emerged in his tissue.

Umair said: "I think I got it stuck up there when I was three or four years old - I can't really remember.

He claims the coin had been stuck up his nose for 10 years - and in one big blow he managed to get it out (SWNS)

"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."

This jogged Umair's memory back to when he was in his early years, but admitted he completely forgot about what he did.

Earlier in the week, he said he trudged down the stairs holding his nose in pain earlier, as it was "hurting a bit more than usual".

The incident happened nearly a decade ago (SWNS)
Umair got the 5p stuck up his nose when he was just four-years-old (SWNS)

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."

He then decided to place cotton buds in both ears to help with the removal process.

Then in one big sneeze, the coin popped out of his nostril.

His mum Afsheen Qamar, 43, described the incident as "completely bizarre".

After experiencing pain, the schoolboy went to extremes to get the coin out (SWNS)

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".

Speaking about the whole ordeal that spanned over years, Afsheen said Umair had complained about breathing problems while playing football as a child.

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."

Mum Afsheen says that despite many trips to the doctors, the silver piece was never found (SWNS)

It turns out that Umair wasn't an isolated case.

Professor Claire Hopkins is an ear, nose and throat consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in London claims children have a fascination with inserting things into their nostrils, adding, "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 continued: "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."

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