Breathing Trees

 

Recently, 28-year-old Artyom Sidorkin of Izhevsk, Russia, started having chest pains. Then last week (after he began coughing up blood) Artyom decided he'd better go to the hospital. When Artyom's doctors took an X-ray, they found what appeared to be a tumor inside his lungs. But when they cut Artyom open to biopsy the tissue... they found something completely unexpected. What was it? Somehow, a TWO-INCH FIR TREE had sprouted inside Artyom's lungs. According to Artyom's doctor, quote, "I blinked three times, and thought I was seeing things." I know what you're thinking: How exactly does a fir tree grow inside someone's lungs? Well, Artyom's doctors aren't really sure. But the working theory is that Artyom must have inhaled a small bud . . . which took hold inside his lungs and started to grow.