'I Was Suffering Constant Migraines': Seed Found Growing Inside Russian Man's Eye

Maxim Sleptsov, a 42-year-old man in Russia, suffered headaches for months, along with eye redness and double vision. When he consulted the doctor, they were shocked to find a germinated seed inside his eyeball, The Sun reported.

According to the report, the issue began when the man, who is a welder and plumber from Siberia, was on a summer trip to the remote Abyysky district.

He was visiting a friend to fish and pick berries, but during the trip a tree branch struck him across the face.

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"A branch caught me in the eye. It whipped across my face," he said, as quoted by the media outlet. "My eye was itchy and painful, as if I'd bruised or scratched it. It was watering and red."

At the time, he felt a sharp pain and washed out what he thought was just a small piece of tree bark, assuming the irritation would go away in some time.

Instead, a tiny seed remained trapped inside. Over the next four months, the seed began to grow in the moist environment, sending a 3-millimetre root directly into the delicate membrane of his eye.

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"I was suffering from constant migraines," he said. "I woke in the mornings with a terrible headache."

The man finally sought emergency medical help after moving to a larger city. Doctors were stunned by the case, noting they had never seen anything quite like it.

"Most surprisingly, it had sprouted, and its root had actually penetrated the conjunctival tissue," van Lutskan, the chief physician, said as quoted.

An ophthalmologist successfully removed the sprouted seed using a fine needle under local anaesthesia. Following the quick procedure, his chronic headaches vanished immediately.

"I had never encountered a case like this in my practice before. The seed's root had reached approximately 3mm in length," Ophthalmologist Elizaveta Karpova said as quoted.