25 Strangest Things Found in an X-Ray

Posted by , Updated on January 10, 2024

While normally x-rays reveal things like broken bones or fluid-filled lungs, every once in a while they expose something a little more strange. How strange? Painfully strange. Get ready to cringe because on this list you’ll find everything from knives and wedding rings to cellphones and hand grenades. These are the stories behind the 25 strangest things found in an x-ray.

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25

More Than a Toothache

Nail X-Ray

Apparently Patrick Lawler thought it was just a toothache. Imagine the dentist’s surprise when he found a nail passing from the roof of his mouth all the way up into his brain.

24

Epic Fail Marriage Proposal

Ring X-Ray

When an unnamed man from New Mexico planned on proposing marriage to his girlfriend he hid the ring in her milkshake. Unfortunately for him she must have been really thirsty that day and his proposal was obviously delayed until the ring completed its journey.

23

Knife Plunged through the Head

Knife X-Ray

When a trio of young men waiting on a bus tried to stop a robbery back in 2008 one of them ended up with more than he bargained for. He was completely coherent though and made a complete recovery.

22

Killed with a Nail Gun

Nail Gun X-Ray

Back in 2008 when investigators concluded that Chen Liu was in fact killed with a nail gun no one argued with their findings.

21

A Pair of Scissors inside the Abdomen

Scissor X-Ray

When Australian Pat Skinner came back to the hospital 18 months after surgery complaining of stomach pain the doctors found something they’d lost over a year ago…their surgical scissors!

20

Arrow Inside the Head

Arrow X-Ray

After a child in China was accidentally shot in the head with a bow and arrow it pierced through his eye socket and went into the back of his skull. Despite the the close call he still somehow managed to survive.

19

Scissor for a Toothpick

Scissors X-Ray

Apparently someone in China borrowed a pair of scissors to clean their teeth after a meal and  swallowed them by mistake when a friend told a joke and they laughed.

18

Burmese Python vs Electric Blanket

Burmese python vs electrical blanket

This 12 foot Burmese python from Idaho needed surgery in order to remove the electric blanket and entangled wires in his gut.

17

A Soldier with Nerves of Steel

Soldier X-Ray

In spite of a knife penetrating 4 inches into his head just above his eyebrow this soldier still somehow managed to survive the operation with any difficulties.

16

The Knife Swallowing Puppy

knife in puppy's stomach xray

This 13 inch serrated knife blade somehow got lodged between the stomach and esophagus of a St. Bernard puppy in Florida for nearly 4 days before surgery was finally performed to remove it.

15

Light Bulb from Below

Light Bulb X-Ray

Is there an easy way to get a light bulb stuck in your large intestine?  When doctors from Pakistan removed the light bulb from a prisoner he had no explanation and seemed just as baffled as everyone else.

14

Cellular Phone Inside the Colon

Cellular Phone X-Ray

While the lightbulb doesn’t really make any sense, a cellphone, well, at least we could see a reason for this x ray to exist. Taken in a prison in San Salvador this shows just how much some people are willing to endure in order to stay connected.

13

Drill through the Head

Drill X-Ray

When construction worker Ron Hunt fell from a ladder while drilling on an elevated surface his drill went ripping through his eye socket and out the back of his head. Amazingly enough he survived.

12

Cobblestones in a Love Quarrel

Cobblestone X-Ray

For some reason a girl in China swallowed over 20 cobblestones when she got upset with her boyfriend thinking that eating and drinking would eventually flush them out. She was wrong.

11

Keys on the Face

Keys on the Face

Although we’re not sure how this could happen without child services getting involved, 17-month old Nicholas Holderman somehow ended up with mom’s keys penetrating through his eye socket and into his skull. Fortunately he made a full recovery.

10

Tap Handle Piercing the Eyeball

Tap Handle Pierces the Eyeballs

57 year old Yi Zhao came into the emergency room one day holding up a piece of plumbing that was lodged into his skull via the tap handle. Apparently he had slipped in his tub and landed in a the worst way possible.

9

Huge Kidney Stone

Huge Kidney Stone

Believe it or not this 7-inch kidney stone was found in a patient in Hungary and upon removal it looked like a large deformed ostrich egg.

8

Bedsprings and Batteries

Battery Bedspring X-Ray

As you may have noticed, some of the strangest x-ray finds happen to be in prisons. This one is no exception. Prisoners in Raleigh, North Carolina were found trying to smuggle batteries and bed springs in their stomachs. Call us crazy but we’re pretty sure that swallowing batteries is not a good idea.

7

Hold that Live Ammo

Live Ammo X-Ray

Although hemorrhoids can’t be “pushed” anywhere (they are swollen veins in the lower rectum) someone apparently thought that they were losing their intestines and needed to shove them back up into their body…using a bullet. The operation went well and the bullet was removed although at one point the bomb squad had to be called for fear that it would explode.

6

Forking a Cockroach

Fork Cockroach X-Ray

Let’s suppose that you somehow manage to nearly swallow a cockroach and its stuck crawling away in the back of your throat. What do you do? Use a fork! At least that’s what an Israeli woman chose to do with less than optimal results.

5

Attractive Candies

Magnetic X-Ray

When 8-year old Haley Lents found shiny metallic objects laying around the house she naturally assumed them to be candy. Before long her intestines were filled with magnets and she had to be taken to the hospital to keep them from clumping up inside her.

4

Sharp Headache

Sharp Headache

Is amazing how many people can have nails rammed straight through their skulls without knowing anything about it. The x-ray above belongs to a man in South Korea who showed up at the emergency room complaining of a headache only to get some surprising news.

3

Head Grenade

Head Grenade

We’re not exactly sure if this is even possible but if so, this soldier was unlucky enough to find out how.

2

X-Ray of a Suicide Bomber

Grenade X-Ray

Another hand grenade, this time in the stomach of a terrorist. Apparently he didn’t think his plan through very well though because he had no way of actually detonating the grenade once it was in his stomach.

1

Chair Leg

Chair Leg

Shafique el-Fahkri learned the hard way not get in bar fights Down Under when 20-year old Liam Peart hurled a chair in his direction. The result: one leg of the chair pierced through his eyesocket and went all the way down through his neck.