Man Suffers From Months of Severe Migraines and Vision Loss Before Finding Out a Plant Grew in His Eye

A Russian man endured four months of headaches before doctors found a sprouting seed in his eye in Yakutsk, Siberia. Maxim Sleptsov, 42, also reported eye pain and disturbed vision after a branch struck his face during a June 2026 fishing trip.

Doctors removed the object on 25 October, according to an interview with Sleptsov and hospital officials published by Russian broadcaster 5-TV. The unusual case became public two days later, when hospital chief Ivan Lutskan described the discovery.

The seed had reportedly germinated in the conjunctiva, the thin membrane covering the white of the eye. Although Sleptsov reported worsening sight, the available accounts do not establish that he became blind.

A Fishing Trip Leaves a Seed in His Eye

Sleptsov was visiting a friend in the Abyysky district of Russia's Sakha Republic when the accident happened. He was walking along a narrow woodland path when a branch struck his left eye.

He initially dismissed the injury. His eye became inflamed, however, and the persistent feeling that something was trapped inside it proved difficult to ignore.

Sleptsov told local news agency YSIA that he tried removing the material himself but stopped because it was painful. He also said another hospital had failed to identify the foreign object.

Weeks passed, and the symptoms grew more troubling. He described daily headaches and a sensation of pressure around his eye. Lutskan's account also referred to complaints of migraines, but the reports do not establish an independently confirmed migraine diagnosis.

After about a month, Sleptsov began experiencing discomfort in his other eye, according to 5-TV. He developed double vision, while sight in his injured left eye reportedly worsened.

The problems increasingly interfered with his work as a welder, a job that depends on being able to see clearly. Eventually, after months of discomfort, he sought specialist treatment in Yakutsk.

There is no publicly available medical assessment proving that the retained seed caused every headache or visual disturbance he experienced. What doctors did identify was an unusual foreign object that had apparently remained in place since the summer.

Doctors Remove the Seed in His Eye and Warn of Sight Risks

Ophthalmologist Elizaveta Karpova removed the seed at Yakutsk's emergency ophthalmic care centre. The procedure took approximately five minutes, 5-TV reported, and was performed under local anaesthetic using an injection needle.

The root was approximately 3mm long, according to Karpova. That measurement describes the root's length, not how deeply it penetrated the eye.

The distinction matters. The reported growth involved conjunctival tissue on the eye's surface, not a plant spreading throughout the eyeball. Doctors did not report roots growing into structures deeper inside the eye.

Karpova said she had never encountered such a case in her practice. She warned that leaving this kind of foreign object untreated could result in a corneal ulcer and potentially lead to sight loss.

That was a warning about what might have happened, rather than confirmation that Sleptsov had suffered permanent damage. Karpova said the eye was no longer at risk after removal, according to YSIA.

Cases of seeds germinating inside eyes have been documented before, though the circumstances differ. A 1979 medical report described a seed embedded in an eight-year-old boy's iris after a penetrating injury to the cornea. It later germinated and was removed from the iris and anterior chamber.

The earlier seed belonged to the Compositae family, which includes daisies and sunflowers. The species removed from Sleptsov's eye has not been publicly identified.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warns that eye injuries involving plant material can cause serious infections, including fungal keratitis. There is no report that Sleptsov was diagnosed with a fungal infection.

Sleptsov said he felt better immediately after the procedure and had begun waking without headaches. The published reports do not include long-term follow-up findings confirming whether all his visual symptoms resolved.