The Filipino Man Who Didn’t Know He Had A Knife Stuck Inside His Body For Over A Year

A Filipino man had a serious injury without knowing it.

On January 20, 2021, Kent Ryan Tomao was stabbed in his hometown of Kidapawan City, Cotabato. The 25-year old was riding a motorcycle with his friends when a gang of teenagers lodged a knife in him.

He was quickly rushed to the local health center but did not have an x-ray taken of his injury. The doctor instead stitched him up right away, claiming that it was just a superficial wound.

The doctor just closed it and said the wound was not that bad.

— Kent Tomao

Mr. Tomao went about his life almost normally for over a year afterwards. Unbeknownst to him, the four-inch blade was dangerously stuck in his body right next to his ribcage.

He admitted to feeling pain in his chest only when the weather was cold. It was never great enough for him to see a doctor.

I always wonder why I feel some pain in my chest when the weather is cold but I had no idea there was a knife still in there…I just waited for the pain to pass.

— Kent Tomao

Over fourteen months after the stabbing incident, he visited the hospital once more to pass a pre-employment medical test for a prospective mining job. This was when the x-ray revealed the knife just inches away from piercing his lungs. He called out the doctors of the local hospital for their serious neglect in checking his wound the previous year.

I had no idea there is a knife in my chest. Now I’m relieved that I know the real problem. The doctors did not check my wounds properly last year so I believe they are partly at fault about what happened. They should fix this. I will not press charges, I just want them to remove the knife so I can start working in my new company.

— Kent Tomao

He finally had an operation to remove the blade in March 2020. GMA News reported that it took almost three hours for the doctors to carefully remove the blade without hitting his lungs.