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A fir tree has been found growing inside a man's lung by surgeons who were operating on him for suspected cancer.
The tree, measuring 5cm, was discovered by Russian doctors when they opened up Artyom Sidorkin, 28, to remove what they thought was a tumour.
Medical staff believe that Mr Sidorkin somehow inhaled a seed, which later sprouted into a small fir tree inside his lung.
The patient had complained of extreme pain in his chest and had been coughing up blood. Doctors were convinced he had cancer.
'We were 100 per cent sure,' said surgeon Vladimir Kamashev from Izhevsk in the Urals. 'We did X-rays and found what looked exactly like a tumour. I had seen hundreds before, so we decided on surgery.'
Before removing the major part of the man's lung, the surgeon investigated the tissue taken in a biopsy.
'I thought I was hallucinating,' said Dr Kamashev. 'I asked my assistant to have a look: "Come and see this - we've got a fir tree here".
'He nodded in shock. I blinked three times as I was sure I was seeing things.'
They believed the coughing of blood was caused by the tiny pine needles piercing blood capillaries. 'It was very painful. But to be honest I did not feel any foreign object inside me,' said Mr Sidorkin. 'I'm so relieved it's not cancer.'
The report appeared in popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Gazeta, and was picked up by Russian news service Novosti.
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