A dad from China became violently ill after eating a live crab in a horrific act of revenge after the sea creature pinched his daughter.
The father, who has only been identified as Lu, 39, from the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang in China was left angered after his daughter was squeezed by a small crab while they were together by a stream.
Lu then decided he would get his own back by picking it up, and proceeded to swallow it whole - while it was still alive, local media reports.
However, two months after the act of vengeance, Lu was admitted to hospital with serious issues.
He was suffering from abdominal and back pain, and ended up being diagnosed with a rare digestive disease eosinophilic gastroenteritis.
Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare condition that affect the gastrointestinal tract, from the oesophagus to the rectum. Symptoms may include dysphagia (which is sometimes presented as food impaction), heartburn, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, weight loss, and bloating.
Medics at the hospital the dad was treated at went on to run further tests, and found that the 39-year-old had pathological changes in his chest, abdomen, liver and digestive system.
However, despite diagnosing the man, doctors were still left confused at what had caused the illness in the first place.
Doctor Cao Qian, the director of the digestive system department at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou told Zhejiang Television: "We repeatedly asked him if he had ever eaten game, or anything unusual, anything that could cause allergies. He said no not at all."
It was only when Lu's wife remembered that her husband ate the live creature two months earlier that medics were given a clearer picture of his diagnosis and cause.
She told doctors the dad has eaten 'something special', and when Lu was questioned by Doctor Quin about why he ate a crab, he said: "I wanted to take revenge for my daughter.
"When we were by a stream my daughter was pinched by a small crab, so I got angry and put it in my mouth for revenge".
This lead to doctors conduct more blood tests, which showed that Lu had been infected by at leat three parasites following his actions.
Since being treated at the hospital, Lu has recovered. However, he still needs to attend follow-up checks.
In China, crabs are usually eaten after being cooked. However, it is not unusual that in some eastern parts people eat them raw.
This tradition originates from the eastern provinces of China and is called 'drunken crabs'. The dish involves marinating the raw crab meat with alcohol and seasoning it for hours so that it becomes 'drunk' before being served and consumed.
However, while Dr Quin has said that it is "theoretically better" to eat them marinated as they have been treated with alcohol - which can help kill the parasites and bacteria - it is not quite safe.
The doctor said: "It can't kill all parasites, so it's not 100 per cent safe either."
In 2020, a woman from Hangzhou, the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China, became infected with at least six parasites after devouring 30 raw crabs.
She also suffered from fluid on her lungs and respiratory arrest for six months following this.
