A Massachusetts man who was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung came home with an unusual diagnosis: a pea plant was growing in his lung. Ron Sveden had been battling emphysema for months when his condition deteriorated. He was steeling himself for a cancer diagnosis when X-rays revealed the growth in his lung. Doctors believe that Mr Sveden ate the pea at some point, but it "went down the wrong way" and sprouted. "One of the first meals I had in the hospital after the surgery had peas for the vegetable. I laughed to myself and ate them," Mr Sveden told a local Boston TV reporter. Mr Sveden said the plant was about half an inch (1.25cm) in size. "Whether this would have gone full-term and I'd be working for the Jolly Green Giant, I don't know. I think the thing that finally dawned on me is that it wasn't the cancer," Mr Sveden said. He is currently recovering at home with his wife Nancy, who joked that God must have a sense of humour. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10945050. ______________________________________________________________ That's nuts.
horrifying and confusing. I guess no acid means no dissolving; so worst case scenario the plant grows large enough that it rips his lungs? Do pea plants not need water, sunlight to grow?
Spoiler No, they do not. Kindergarten kids always do this to see germination. They wrap a seed on a napkin, wet it, and keep it inside a plastic bag, and in a few days, you have a plant.
Seeds can sprout without sunlight if they couldn't seeds that you plant under soil would never sprout. They don't need soil to sprout either (you never grew bean plants on a napkin, in a plastic bag when you were in school?). And the water was provided by the moisture in his lungs. You breathe in water droplets all the time, so he had adequate conditions for the plant to grow.
Isnt there a rugrats episode where they go into one of their bodies to get rid of a watermelon seed ala The Fantastic Voyage?
As soon as the plant uses up the nutrients stored in the pea it would die as while it can sprout with no light to photosynthesize it can't grow anymore. Also the man's own immune system would attack it. That said probably very very uncomfortable and could lead to other damage.
He also likes to stick seeded grapes up his butt. He has a grape vine growing in his large intestine. WEIRDO!!!
