Thai Vets Save Sea Turtle By Extracting Almost 1,000 Coins From Its Stomach

A team of Thai veterinarians worked tirelessly for almost seven hours, including a four-hour operation, to rescue a 25-year-old female turtle from eventual death by removing hundreds of coins from her stomach.

Five doctors worked with the staff from Chulalongkorn University to perform the procedure on the poor amphibian on Monday. The coins had to be carefully taken out a few at a time from the 3.9-inch incision they had made.

Two fish hooks and 915 coins , weighing five kilograms, were extracted from the stomach of the green sea turtle nicknamed “Ormsin.” Her name, given by her rescuers, translates to “Piggy Bank”, reports The Nation (via Coconuts Bangkok).

If it weren’t for the procedure, Ormsin would only have, at most, two months left to live. The massive weight had cracked her underside shell, which caused a life-threatening infection. Many of the coins had even dissolved or corroded inside her stomach.

The turtle was reportedly rescued last month from a breeding pond which was closed after it that went out of business. According to CBS-THV11, visitors threw coins into the turtle’s pond to wish for a longer life. Ironically, the thoughtless actions almost cost the life of an innocent creature.

Ormsin will be temporarily be staying at the Royal Thai Navy’s Sea Turtle Conservation Center in Chonburi until she makes a full recovery. She will be the released back into the sea once she’s healed.

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