Cockroaches are known as hearty insects that can survive just about anything: sewers, decapitation, radiation after a nuclear war. And to prove the point, one cockroach was just spotted alive and well while wreaking havoc inside the stomach of a 23-year-old man.
At first the man thought his bloating, indigestion, and severe belly pain had something to do with the street food he'd eaten three days earlier. But when he finally got checked out at a hospital, doctors were stunned to find a 1-inch cockroach living it up inside the man's small intestine.
"Even we were surprised as to how the cockroach managed to remain intact," one of the doctors told Indian Express. But they quickly got over their shock and got busy evicting the critter before it became a life-threatening situation for the man.
From Oddity Central:
Doctors decided that the best course of action was to conduct an Upper Gastrointestinal (GI) Endoscopy, a procedure that examines the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract, to hopefully discover the cause of the man's symptoms. What they certainly didn't expect to find was a live cockroach chilling in the man's small intestine. …
After discovering the live bug inside the patient's body, the team of doctors decided to remove it using an endoscope with two channels — one for air and water infusion and the other for air suction.
"We activated the suction button on the scope, effectively sucking the cockroach into the suction channel, leading to its removal from the body and saving the man's life," said Dr Vatsya explained, adding that failing to remove the insect as fast as possible could have caused serious complications, including infectious diseases.
As for how the 3cm cockroach wound up in the poor man's intestines, the Indian gastroenterologist speculated that it could have crawled down his throat while he slept, or the man accidentally swallowed it when visiting the night market.
Previously: Six family members infected with brain worms after chowing down on bear meat