'Cancer' patient grows pea plant in his lung

A patient who feared he had cancer was told he had grown a pea plant which had sprouted leaves in his lung.

'Cancer' patient grows pea plant in his lung
Doctors found a grainy spot on an X-ray of Ron Sveden's chest

Ron Sveden, a retired teacher from Brewster, Massachusetts, in the US, had been short of breath for months and was taken to hospital in May.

Doctors found a grainy spot on an X-ray and he prepared himself for a diagnosis of cancer.

The 75-year-old said: "I was told I had a pea seed in my lung that had split and had sprouted. It is probably about a half-an-inch which is a pretty big thing."

Doctors believe Mr Sveden ate a pea that "went down the wrong way" before sprouting to 12mm (0.5ins) in size. The warm and moist conditions are thought to have encouraged it to grow.

Mr Sveden had been suffering from emphysema prior to being taken to hospital. His left lung was found to have collapsed but doctors could find no evidence of cancer.

He underwent more tests over the next two weeks, but they all came back negative for cancer.

Mr Sveden added: "Whether this would have gone full-term and I'd be working for the Jolly Green Giant, I don't know. But the thing that finally dawned on me is that it wasn't the cancer.

"One of the first meals I had in hospital after the surgery had peas for the vegetable. I laughed to myself and ate them."

His wife Nancy added: "God has such a sense of humour. I mean it could have been just nothing, but it had to be a pea, and it had to be sprouting."

He said he never felt anything growing in his chest and repeated coughing fits had failed to dislodge the legume.

He is now recovering from surgery.