S'porean boy, 9, falls while playing with monkey bar, hits plastic partition, right kidney ruptures & gets removed

A nine-year-old boy was playing with the monkey bar at a playground when he fell and hit a plastic partition.

As a result of the impact, his right kidney ruptured, causing him to bleed internally.

He had to undergo emergency surgery to remove it, Shin Min Daily News reported.

The incident happened at around 6pm on Jun. 20, at the playground next to Block 443D Bukit Batok West Avenue 8.

What happened

According to Shin Min, the boy Liu Jun Wen (transliteration) had gone down to the playground to play with four or five of his neighbours, his father said.

Liu, 46, said his son slipped and fell while playing with the monkey bar.

Liu said his son went home home crying and kept complaining of a pain in his abdomen.

However, apart from Jun Wen's face looking slightly pale, there were no visible injuries on the boy's body.

Liu told Jun Wen to rest for a short while, but the boy continued to cry and complain that his stomach hurt.

He also kept asking for water.

When Jun Wen's mother, Zheng Mei Yan, 38, was helping Jun Wen to wash up, she realised that there was blood in his urine and immediately rushed him to the hospital at around 9pm.

Upon examination, the doctor said there was internal bleeding, but he was unable to determine which organ was affected.

Jun Wen had to undergo a blood transfusion before a more detailed examination could be done.

After an X-ray scan, it was confirmed that Jun Wen's right kidney was severely ruptured.

The doctor said Jun Wen had to undergo surgery immediately, otherwise it might endanger his life.

Damage to right kidney too severe

The operation started at 12am on Jun. 21.

Doctors found a 10cm laceration in Jun Wen's right kidney.

As it was beyond repair, they had to remove the kidney.

The operation took about three to four hours.

According to Shin Min, the father said he had never expected such an accident to occur and urged other parents to be more cautious and to supervise their children when they went out to play.

A Shin Min reporter went to the site where the accident occurred and observed that there were many children playing at the playground.

Some were supervised by their parents, while some were not.

The monkey bar that Jun Wen fell off from was estimated to be around 1.8m in height.

Parents worried

Liu said he does not know the full cost of the surgery yet, but it is expected to be tens of thousands of dollars.

He said he is the sole breadwinner of the family and is struggling to support his family of five.

However, he and his wife are more concerned about the effects of the surgery for their son and are worried that his daily life will be affected, especially because he is still young.

Mei Yan added that once her son is discharged, they would monitor and control his diet for him, making sure that he does not consume too much salty food.

Shin Min reported that Jun Wen was in the intensive care unit.

He was able to speak, but had to be fed through a tube.

His condition will continue to be monitored.

Boy still able to live normally

According to Shin Min, Desmond Wai, a gastroenterologist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre, said in an interview that based on his experience, most people who fall from a monkey bar would use their hands or feet to break their fall and be injured in those areas.

He said Jun Wen's case was rare and unfortunate, and that it is actually more common for internal organs to be injured from force exerted by a violent impact, such as a car accident.

He further explained that kidneys contain long arteries with a large volume of blood flow.

Once a kidney is damaged, it will bleed continuously, and if it is ruptured, it will be difficult to be repaired and will hence have to be removed.

However, Wai said Jun Wen can continue to live normally as the remaining kidney can still function and compensate for the loss of the other kidney.

He also reminded parents to be more careful and to monitor their children when they engage in activities that are above ground to prevent such accidents from occurring.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News