Doctors have revealed they found a pea sprouting in the lung of a 75-year-old man.

They feared the worst when they studied Ron Sveden's X-rays and spotted a small dark spot.

The former teacher had worked for years smoking fish and had already had emphysema before he felt his health take a turn for the worse this summer.

By the time Sveden reached hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts, he had a collapsed left lung and pneumonia. Two biopsies came back negative for lung cancer.

Feeding a scope down Sveden's throat, Dr Jeff Spillane scraped away at an encrusted mass and discovered a sprout.

He said Sveden had apparently inhaled a pea that took root in his lung.

The doctor removed it, and Sveden's health has taken a turn for the better.