Man with earache goes to hospital and discovers 26 cockroaches living in his ear
19-year-old Mr Li had woken up in the night complaining of a painful and itchy right ear
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.This was the moment a routine visit to the hospital due to an earache turned into the stuff of nightmares.
When doctors examined a man complaining of earache in the city of Dongguan, in the southern Chinese region of Guangdong Province, the discovered that the source of his agony was a cockroach. Worse still, the insect had given birth to 25 babies inside his ear.
According to The People’s Daily Online and TVS, 19-year-old Mr Li had woken up in the night complaining of a painful and itchy right ear.
When Yang Jing, a doctor at Chang'an Xiaobian Hospital, peered inside, he said he "saw an insect-shaped object blocking his ear canal completely." Dr Yang, talking to TVS, said he extracted the female roach from the ear, with the insect measuring 0.3 inches long.
Yet that was not the end of proceedings inside Mr Li's ear. Dr Yang then found 25 baby cockroaches inside the ear canal, with doctors assuming the female roach had laid the eggs inside Mr Li's ear several weeks earlier. A female cockroach can carry a capsule contain around 40 eggs, with the development into adults from egg taking around three to four months.
According to reports, the doctor told Mr Li that if he had come to the hospital any later his ear "would have been destroyed".
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments