Physical Wellness

Turtle 'Piggy Bank' Dies After Swallowing 915 Coins; Autospy Reveals Blood Poisoning and Infection

By Ashley Greens | Update Date: Mar 23, 2017 11:08 AM EDT

A turtle named "Om sin" or "Piggy Bank" passed away after ingesting 915 coins, which she had mistaken for food. A seven-hour surgery to save her life and remove the coins from her stomach went in vain.

Om sin was a 25-five-year-old sea turtle in Thailand. She passed way as a result of blood poisoning.

She did not recover after an extended operation that was done to remove at least 915 coins from her intestines, the New York Daily News reports. The veterinarians stated that the turtle ingested coins, which were thrown into her pool for good luck. 

Many people believe that tossing coins into the fountain is a way of receiving luck, which is a very popular superstition. The Thai's believe that when they throw coins on the turtle, they will be able to bring longevity. However, this popular superstition is the cause of the sea turtle's sad and painful death.

Vets in Bangkok were needed on the March 6 to conduct an emergency operation on the female green sea turtle. Due to continuous ingestion of the coins, "Piggy Bank" had a large ball in her digestion system, the Independent reports. The heavy weight of the ball led to the cracking of the green turtle's ventral shell. It resulted in a life-threatening infection.

Five surgeons from Chulalongkorn University tried their best remove the coins from the turtle's body. The operation lasted for more than four hours, and the turtle was under general anesthesia.

The veterinarians had to make a small incision (around 10cm) through which they had to remove the coins in stages, a few at a time. Most of the coins had corroded while others had already started dissolving.

The surgery was a success and the only issue was the recovery of "Piggy Bank." After the operation, the surgeons said her survival would highly depend on whether she can recover or not. After the surgery, the turtle was kept on a liquid diet.

However, the turtle suddenly developed complications and was operated upon again and soon after she went into a coma. The turtle dies as a result of blocked blood flow. An autopsy was done on Om Sin as a case study.

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