It’s an extraordinary story reported by the Guardian: an 80-year-old Russian woman lived her entire life with a needle in her brain. Doctors from the Sakhalin region made this discovery while performing a CT scan on the old woman.
There was an attempt to kill her when she was just a child during World War II. She will have survived, with a three-centimeter needle remaining stuck in her brain. The story seems improbable, yet it is that of an old Russian woman, born in 1943 and therefore 80 years old.
A discovery made during a brain scan
This is a press release from the local health department of the Sakhalin region, which can be consulted on the Guardian website, which reveals this very particular case. While performing a brain scan on the old woman, a three centimeter long needle was discovered in the images.
However, the octogenarian never suffered any health problems or headaches linked to the presence of the metal object in his skull.
80-year-old Russian woman found to have lived her whole life with needle in brain https://t.co/dYiKvBn6FX pic.twitter.com/IT4AzaX7rh
— The Independent (@Independent) October 5, 2023
Victim of a failed infanticide
This patient is therefore a miracle, victim of a failed infanticide. Indeed, in times of famine in the Soviet Union, some parents managed to kill their child by inserting a fine needle into the fontanel. An act which irreparably damages the brain of the little victim, without leaving any traces of the crime.
At the Russian, “the needle entered his left parietal lobe, but it did not have the desired effect” believe the doctors. Today, the old woman, who has no particular symptoms, will not be operated on to remove the metal object, because this would present more risk of serious complications than any benefit for her health .