A newborn baby boy has been rushed to hospital after his parents ripped nearly 20 inches of his small intestine out through his belly button while attempting DIY surgery on him with a box cutter.
They had noticed a bulge and wanted to 'let the air out'.
The boy, who was just 41 days old at the time, was rushed to A&E at Ningbo Women and Children Hospital last Wednesday.
Paediatric surgeon Zhu Jianming said '40 to 50 centimetres (15.7 to 19.7 inches)' of the infant's small intestine had come out from his navel, with about 25 centimetres (9.8 inches) having turned purple because of exposure.
The couple living in the city of Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang Province had noticed an unusual bulge on their fifth child's belly button and wanted to help the boy 'let the air out'.
They reportedly took a box cutter - also known as a Stanley knife - to the child's navel and ruptured it, resulting in the shocking sight of his small intestine escaping his abdominal cavity.
The stunned parents, who reports say are both aged 26, rushed the infant to a local hospital who had no choice but to refer the couple to a larger facility when they could not stuff the child's entrails back into his body.
Doctor Zhu said: 'We immediately alerted the operating theatre to prepare for surgery,' adding that it had already been three hours since the accident happened.
The medic ultimately opted against the removing the black-and-purple section of the boy's intestines and instead treated it by wrapping it in a warm towel before placing it back into his body.
He explained: 'The infant was far too small. It would've been a shame for him to lose the entire section.'
Doctor Zhu said they also found a malformed section of small intestine, which they removed.
The infant, who has a brother and three sisters at home, is now in stable condition having survived the cautious three-to-five-day postoperative observation period.
Doctor Zhu said: 'I've never seen parents as ignorant as this.'
He explained that umbilical hernias are observed in 90 per cent of children under the age of two.
Some of the bulges disappear by themselves over time, while other more pronounced cases can be resolved with a simple surgery.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
