A man was hospitalized after a fidget spinner became lodged in his anus.
A man was hospitalized after a fidget spinner became lodged in his anus.
In May 2017, fidget spinners â€” a stress-relieving toyÂ that consists of a ball bearing with metal prongs that can be spun and flicked, and which supposedly helps with mental focusÂ â€” turned into the seasonâ€™s trend, with versions of the plastic or metal gadgets selling for thousands of dollars online. Fake news and hoaxes quickly followed on the heels of its soaring popularity. Â On 16 May 2017, people on social media were deeply amused by aÂ stories aboutÂ a man in his thirties who was hospitalized after one of the popular toys became lodged in his anus: < According to local media reports, the man had been introduced to fidget spinners by one of his younger cousins, and had been playing with the device while in bed when the accident occurred. A family member who spoke to the media declined to be named, or to name the man involved in the incident, but did answer some questions about what had caused the spinner to become stuck. > One versionÂ claimed the fidget spinner accident occurred in Boise, Idaho, and the other in Louisville, Kentucky. Otherwise, the language in the articles varied little: < A 27-year old man from Boise, Idaho has been rushed to hospital after a fidget spinner became lodged in his anus. Surgeons were forced to operate on the man to remove the device, which had become stuck after he used it inappropriately. â€œWe are confident the man will make a full recovery, but for the moment he does face a fairly long recovery due to the internal damage the device made to his anal passage,â€ said one of the doctors who operated on the man. > < A 29-year old man from Louisville, Kentucky has been rushed to hospital after a fidget spinner became lodged in his anus. Surgeons were forced to operate on the man to remove the device, which had become stuck after he used it inappropriately. â€œWe are confident the man will make a full recovery, but for the moment he does face a fairly long recovery due to the internal damage the device made to his anal passage,â€ said one of the doctors who operated on the man. > No â€œlocal media reportsâ€ from Boise or Louisville indicated that any incident involvedÂ a fidget spinner lodged in anyoneâ€™s anus. These highly sharable storiesÂ areÂ a perfectÂ example of regional fake news, where standard garden-varietyÂ hoaxesÂ areÂ geo-targeted to increase social media traffic and engagement.Â
"fidget" AND "spinner" AND "hospital" AND "anus"