A 42-year-old Russian man who suffered from severe headaches and double vision for four months was shocked to discover that a plant seed had sprouted inside his eye, with its root growing into the delicate tissue.
The incident began when Sleptsov, a welder and plumber, travelled to the remote Abyysky district to visit a friend for fishing and berry picking. It whipped across my face. “My eye was itchy and painful, as if I’d bruised or scratched it. It was watering and red. Sleptsov rinsed his eye and removed what appeared to be a small piece of bark. Believing the problem had been resolved, he initially dismissed the injury. However, a tiny seed had remained trapped inside his eye. Over the following months, his condition worsened, with persistent headaches, inflammation and difficulty seeing clearly.
(Also read: 71-year-old farmer in South Korea goes for cataract surgery, doctors find 11 live worms in his eyes ) The man, identified as Maxim Sleptsov from Siberia, had been experiencing persistent eye inflammation and deteriorating eyesight before doctors discovered the unusual cause of his symptoms.
The seed had remained lodged in his eye for months after an encounter with a tree branch during a summer trip, according to a report by The Sun . Recounting the incident, he said, “A branch caught me in the eye. “I was suffering from constant migraines,” he said. “I woke in the mornings with a terrible headache.”
After reaching Yakutsk, Sleptsov visited an emergency ophthalmology centre, where doctors discovered that the seed had germinated. Its root had grown approximately 3mm into the conjunctiva, the thin membrane covering the white part of the eye. Sleptsov initially struggled to seek specialist treatment because he was staying in a remote area, according to Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda .
Ophthalmologist Elizaveta Karpova removed the seed using an injection needle under local anaesthetic. “The seed’s root had reached approximately 3mm in length.
Ivan Lutskan, the hospital’s chief physician, said, “Most surprisingly, it had sprouted, and its root had actually penetrated the conjunctival tissue. “I had never encountered a case like this in my practice before,” she said. Doctors said the condition could have caused serious complications, including vision loss, according to Yakutsk-based news agency YSIA . Following the procedure, Sleptsov reported immediate relief from his headaches. (Also read: Woman carried ‘stone baby’ in her abdomen for around 3 years, doctors reveal rare case in Somaliland ) “They removed a seed that had already begun to put down roots,” he said. “I was so relieved that nothing else mattered.”
