Get ready to squirm: A man in Australia has had a 2cm cockroach removed from his ear.
Hendrik Helmer’s ordeal began on Wednesday when he was woken by a sharp pain in his right ear.
The warehouse worker became doubled over in agony as the live insect continued to burrow deeper into his ear canal.
This was pulled from the ear of Hendrik Helmer
Despite efforts to suck it out with a vacuum cleaner, Helmer eventually gave in and presented himself to doctors at Royal Darwin Hospital, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reports.
A doctor poured olive oil into his ear canal, causing the still twitching insect to dig even deeper before eventually dying.
Helmer told the channel: “Near the 10-minute mark… somewhere around there, he started to stop burrowing but he was still in the throes of death-twitching.”
Much to Helmer’s relief, the beast was finally removed with the use of forceps. He added: “They said they had never pulled an insect this large out of someone’s ear.”
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Helmer has since posted pictures of the dead insect on his Facebook page, quipping: "Yes, that's Roger my new pet.
"I take him everywhere. He's dead now. He drowned."
If that wasn't horrifying enough, let's cast our minds back to 2012 where a woman turned up at China's Changsha Central Hospital complaining about itching in her left ear.
A look inside revealed... one miffed looking spider. Fearing the arachnid would burrow deeper or even bite the woman, medics poured saline into her ear in the hope the spider would come out by itself.
Thankfully it did, and the patient burst into tears of gratitude.
Incy wincy spider: The arachnid peers out of a Chinese woman's ear canal