A woman from Florida was wrongly diagnosed with life-threatening lung cancer after doctors failed to spot the real reason behind her breathing problems – a giant fruit seed she had swallowed 28 years ago.
Blanca Riveron, 62, had suffered from debilitating coughing fits and breathing difficulties that baffled doctors.
However, when she began coughing up blood, doctors discovered a dark-coloured shadow on her lungs and diagnosed her with lung cancer.
According to WTSP News, Riveron had two endoscopies to prepare for surgery to remove the unknown ‘mass’ spotted on her lungs.
However, before she had the planned operation, Riveron experienced a violent coughing fit where, to her surprise, a giant fruit seed popped out of her mouth.
To her amazement, it was the same nispero fruit seed she accidentally swallowed in 1984. Nispero seeds are around the same size as a grape.
Since she coughed up the huge seed, she discovered an immediate change in her breathing problems that had blighted her for 28 years. “I can breathe, I can sleep. My life has changed completely,” Blanca told WTSP News.
“She’s even able to blow up a balloon for my son and she had never been able to do that before,” she’s Riveron’s daughter.
