Doctors remove unknown metal implant from man's arm - discover it is a 7" car part from the 1960s

I'm reading the news today and see this medical news report about a guy having a sore arm with a bit of inflammation. He knew there was some metal in his arm after he went to ER after a car crash, and then went through an X-ray scanner. He thought it was something the doctors had put in.

But no, it's a intact turn signal lever

www.nydailynews.com...

If he can scrape the rust off it, he might just offset his medical bills by $16. Makes me wonder how many other people are wandering around with bits of scrap metal in them.

a reply to: stormcell

But it does not explain how the aliens got it in the first place?

a reply to: stormcell

wow the turn signal lever from a 1963 Thunderbird. That is rather astonishing. oh us humans, we never cease to amaze each other. Perhaps you should elaborate a little it more though, just a link with no context is boring. I want to know what YOU think about it!

Let me give you an example of how you coulda opened up:

CREVE COEUR, Mo. —Fifty-one years ago, Arthur Lampitt of Granite City, Ill., smashed his 1963 Thunderbird into a truck. This week during surgery in suburban St. Louis, a 7-inch turn signal lever from that T-Bird was removed from his left arm.

Dr. Timothy Lang removed the lever Wednesday during a 45-minute operation. Lampitt, now 75, is recovering at home.

A decade or so ago, his arm set off a metal detector at a courthouse. An X-ray showed a slender object the length of a pencil, but since it caused no pain or hardship, Lampitt was told to let it be.
Lampitt decided to have surgery. He initially wasn’t sure what was in the arm. He wondered if perhaps a medical instrument had been left during the emergency room visit in 1963.

OMG a turn signal lever!? Holy # LOL who could ever know??

See how nice that is.

I've seen an X-ray of hemostats they left in during surgery. And people eat all kind of weird stuff from coins to glass, metal, self implanted maniacs.

Glad it was only a blinker and not a steering wheel.

originally posted by: stormcell
www.nydailynews.com...

Is that it ?

I'm glad he's Holden up, hell, no one these dayz can af Ford medical bills.

a reply to: gortex
Yeah, rather undernourished OP lol

So that's what aliens are using to probe abductees!

Maybe he can make some cash from it. How many Thunderbird car collectors have been looking for a 1963 turn signal lever!! It's worth millions!!

As I recall, his 1963 Thunderbird hydroplaned and he hit a semi truck head on...

A collection of old photos of the wreck taken by a friend showed that the blinker lever was in fact missing.

The condition of a tire in the second picture makes it obvious why his car hydroplaned.

I wrecked my car once the same way BTW...

originally posted by: stormcell
I'm reading the news today and see this medical news report about a guy having a sore arm with a bit of inflammation. He knew there was some metal in his arm after he went to ER after a car crash, and then went through an X-ray scanner. He thought it was something the doctors had put in.

But no, it's a intact turn signal lever

www.nydailynews.com...

If he can scrape the rust off it, he might just offset his medical bills by $16. Makes me wonder how many other people are wandering around with bits of scrap metal in them.

An MRI of that area would have found it pretty quick. Painfully, but quickly.

Doctors mess up and leave things in all the time. The doctor that delivered me, the family MD, left a SPONGE inside my mother, my birth required forceps. Months later she went to a new doctor for an exam and he found it.

Sometimes doctors forget or even hide things.

What the...!!??

Doctors. BAH!

a reply to: stormcell

Very cool story. Thank you for sharing stormcell

That's crazy! I guess it illustrates the high quality boss chrome that was used on those older cars. Not much corrosion/rust, and just a little inflammation and swelling...just...dang.

If it had been a 70's or 80's car his arm probably would have fallen off after a couple days!

what i want to know is, is it still useable? i mean how cool would it be to after carrying it around in your body for half a century to stick it back in a car and use it.

a reply to: PLAYERONE01
Actually you bring up a good point. The chrome still looks good, and new wires could be added to make it just as functional as new. This very well could be considered a vintage part, and worth a premium to anyone restoring that vehicle. I have a feeling this gentleman has cleaned it up though and placed it on his wall, cabinet or mantle as a memento of sorts.

I see they average $15 on ebay, and the last one I can find that is an exact match sold in November also for fifteen. I suspect he will be keeping it then for that price.

originally posted by: PLAYERONE01
what i want to know is, is it still useable? i mean how cool would it be to after carrying it around in your body for half a century to stick it back in a car and use it.

If it had been me, the nostalgia of my car from long ago that had always been a part of me would require me to find one and restore it, with that turn signal lever the final piece.

a reply to: Murgatroid

Awesome that his friend had and was able to locate the pictures, and had a perfect shot of the missing piece! Unsure because of the black and white, but it looks like one heck of a blood spill on that seat too!