Child saved after swallowing coin

Saudi doctors saved the life of a four-year-old local boy who swallowed a coin and could hardly breathe or eat, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

X-ray images showed the coin stuck in the esophagus (part which connects the throat to the stomach). The kid was rushed to the hospital by his parents in the Western Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Sabq newspaper said surgeons managed to remove the coin in a 30-minute operation, which "saved the boy's life."

"His life could have been in danger if his parents were late in bringing him to the hospital and if we are late in performing the operation," the paper said, quoting Dr Nizah Faqih.