Rare But Possible: Utah Plant Can GROW Inside Your Lungs

Don’t Put This High on Your Worry List

My mom told me not to swallow watermelon seeds because one might grow in my stomach. I think she said this to keep me from eating like a glutton, but it is something that has stuck with me over the years. Turns out, there was some truth to it.

There are stories of people who have breathed a seed into their lungs where it lodged and sprouted. The most famous one was a Russian named Artyom Sidorkin who was having trouble breathing. Doctors diagnosed him with a tumor in his lung.

Deciding to remove that part of Artyom’s lung, his surgeon was stunned to find a small fir tree growing there. He asked his assistant to confirm what he was seeing as it was so weird. It had pine needles that were disrupting the capillaries when the man breathed.

A Super Rare Condition

Even though this man in Russia had a fir tree growing in his lungs, and there have been other similar cases like a man with a pea seed growing, it almost never happens. You are far more likely to get a bug in your ear or a worm in your intestines. I have just helped you exchange one worry for some new ones.

Do not spend your time stressing about what you have breathed in or what might have climbed into your orifices. All of these cases are so rare you have as much chance of a winning lottery ticket blowing into your ear and making your monetary dreams come true.