The story of Snail Growing In a Boy

The story of a boy who had a snail egg enter his wound and later develop in his leg is a bizarre but true case that gained widespread attention. The incident occurred when an 11-year-old boy named Paul Franklin from Aliso Viejo, California, experienced a strange and painful swelling in his leg after a family vacation to the beach in 2013.

While playing at the beach, Paul fell and scraped his knee. Soon after, his knee became increasingly swollen, red, and painful. Initially, doctors thought it was an infection, possibly from a foreign object like sand or dirt. Despite treatment, the swelling worsened, and no amount of medication seemed to help. After several visits to the hospital, doctors were puzzled by the growing lump in his leg.

To everyone's shock, when the doctors finally decided to perform a minor surgery to remove what they thought was an abscess, they discovered a sea snail growing inside Paul's knee. It turned out that a tiny snail egg had entered the wound when Paul scraped his knee at the beach. The egg somehow remained viable, and over time, the snail began to develop inside the boy’s leg.

Paul’s story, while highly unusual, ended on a positive note. Once the snail was removed, his knee healed properly. The incident became a fascinating case study and a reminder of the strange interactions that can sometimes occur between humans and the natural world.