Sea snail hatches in boy's knee, Paul Franklin, a 4-year-old boy from Aliso Viejo, Calif., will always have the perfect gross-out story to tell his friends.
After falling on a rock during a recent trip to the beach, Paul sustained a "little owie" that turned into a pus-filled, infected wound on his knee.
The doctor diagnosed Paul with a staph infection, prescribed extra-strong antibiotics and told his parents to wash his bed sheets every night and change his bandages every day. They said not to drain the wound, thinking Paul's body would eventually absorb the pus.
“I came home and his knee was the size of an orange and hot to the touch and he’s limping. And I’m like, okay, we have to go to urgent care,” Rachael Franklin said.
"I know the doctor didn't want to drain this, but this sucker needs to be drained!" Rachael said when she saw what she thought might be Gangrene.
When she finally squeezed the wound, a small black object popped out of her little boy's knee.
“I put it on a paper towel and I’m like, ‘That is a weird looking rock. It has swirls on it.’ And I turn it over and it is a sea snail," Rachael said.
When the family put the tiny snail in a cup of water, they saw bubbles float toward the surface.
No one knows exactly how a small sea creature ended up in Paul's leg, though they suspect that a snail's egg could have lodged itself in his knee during the fall. Rachael said she plans to consult a marine biologist for more answers.
After falling on a rock during a recent trip to the beach, Paul sustained a "little owie" that turned into a pus-filled, infected wound on his knee.
The doctor diagnosed Paul with a staph infection, prescribed extra-strong antibiotics and told his parents to wash his bed sheets every night and change his bandages every day. They said not to drain the wound, thinking Paul's body would eventually absorb the pus.
“I came home and his knee was the size of an orange and hot to the touch and he’s limping. And I’m like, okay, we have to go to urgent care,” Rachael Franklin said.
"I know the doctor didn't want to drain this, but this sucker needs to be drained!" Rachael said when she saw what she thought might be Gangrene.
When she finally squeezed the wound, a small black object popped out of her little boy's knee.
“I put it on a paper towel and I’m like, ‘That is a weird looking rock. It has swirls on it.’ And I turn it over and it is a sea snail," Rachael said.
When the family put the tiny snail in a cup of water, they saw bubbles float toward the surface.
No one knows exactly how a small sea creature ended up in Paul's leg, though they suspect that a snail's egg could have lodged itself in his knee during the fall. Rachael said she plans to consult a marine biologist for more answers.
