Doctor pulls 2cm long cockroach from Hendrik Helmer's ear

The creature crawled into his ear as he slept

German cockroaches - smaller than the famous American cockroach - have evolved to lose their sweet tooth (Rex Features)

A doctor had to pull a 2cm long cockroach from a man’s ear after the insect crawled inside while he slept.

Hendrik Helmer from Darwin, Australia was forced to seek hospital treatment when he awoke at 2.30am on Wednesday with an agonising pain in his ear which he believed was an insect.

He told 105.7 ABC Darwin radio station the pain began to get worse, and using a vacuum cleaner to try and suck the creature out only appeared to anger it, increasing his pain further.

“Later on, when I stood up and it happened it would sort of hunch me over and drop me down to the ground,” Mr Helmer said.

“I was hoping it wasn't a poisonous spider. I was hoping it didn't bite me.”

He eventually attend the Royal Darwin Hospital, where a doctor poured olive oil down his ear canal. However, this made the cockroach burrow down further, before it began to suffocate and die.

In a last ditch attempt, the doctor used a pair of forceps to prize the insect from his ear.

“She said, 'you know how I said a little cockroach? That may have been an underestimate,' Mr Helmer told the station.

”They said they had never pulled an insect this large out of someone's ear.“