Woman Goes Blind After Pressure Cooker Whistle Shot Off Into Her Skull

In a freak accident, an Indian woman was blinded in one eye after a pressure cooker whistle shot off and lodged itself in her skull.

Munda Birsi was cooking using her pressure cooker on Sept. 4, when the accident happened. She had gone out to cut some hay after setting the cooker on a gas stove. Birsi could not hear the whistle over the sounds of the hay cutter and came inside one hour later to remove the cooker.

While doing so, the steam pressure caused the whistle to come off the cooking device and pierce the skull bone that separated her eye from the brain, SWNS reported. She was then rushed to a hospital where a CT scan showed the 3-inch object jammed in her skull.

The whistle has penetrated so deep that it was not entirely visible from the outside. An operation had to be carried out to retrieve the whistle. The surgery was successful and Birsi’s life was saved, however, her left eye has been permanently damaged.

Dr. Ashish Joy Soren, who conducted the surgery, said that it was not an easy task to pull out the whistle.

“[We had to] release adhesions around the whistle and ensure that no bleeding should occur while extricating the metallic object. We had kept backup plans if blood would spurt,” he told SWNS.

"It was a bit difficult to pull out the whistle as vigorous maneuver would damage the surrounding tissues. We gently pulled the whistle and packed the wound opening with the gauze pieces.”

Birsi was released on Saturday from the hospital, one day after the surgery was performed. She is now in a stable condition.