SIEM REAP: Two children were hospitalized at the Jayavarman VII Hospital (Kantha Bopha III), in Siem Reap Province on Wednesday, 4 January, one due to a coin being stuck in his esophagus, and the other because of a needle in his stomach.

The first involves a three-year-old boy from Siem Pang district, Stung Treng province, who has had a coin stuck in his esophagus for three months. He was late in receiving treatment because his parents could not afford the cost of traveling to the hospital.

The second case involves an 11-month-old toddler from Puok district, Siem Reap province, who was sent to the emergency room after swallowing a needle, which was stuck in his stomach for 12 hours.

The hospital has confirmed that all medical care is being provided to the children free of charge, thanks to the generosity of all the hospital's benefactors; primarily Swiss and Cambodian donors to the Kantha Bopha Foundations of Switzerland and Cambodia.