A Cambodian Splinter

 

 

I have just moved from Battambang to Phnom Penh – hence the late arrival of this episode of my blog, but it has reminded me of an extraordinary sight I witnessed a number of years ago. Many houses in Cambodia are built of wood and rest on stilts to prevent them from flooding during the rainy season. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I looked out of my window one day to see a large group of men lifting our neighbour’s house from the ground by the stilts and carrying it down the street to be relocated some distance away. It transpired that the owners had purchased a new piece of land but didn’t want to build a new property. It certainly brings a whole new meaning to the expression “moving house”.

 I do not know whether splinters were a problem for those carrying the house, but a splinter certainly caused a major problem for an elderly gentleman I saw with a nasty infected wound on his scrotum. It had been discharging pus on and off for several months by the time he came to the hospital. He thought this was related to an injury sustained some while earlier when he had fallen astride a tree stump whilst farming. He had not sought medical attention at the time and thought no more of it until the discharge started. Upon exploring the wound in the operating theatre, we discovered an 8cm piece of wood within it – see the photo below. (The artery forceps give an impression of the scale). Needless to say, the situation improved greatly once this had been removed, but I cannot imagine how much discomfort he must have suffered from it. He was fortunate not to have sustained an injury to his urethra. 

This is the second largest splinter I have ever seen and I will relate the story of the largest one another time.