A firefighter had to have open heart surgery because he got an infection after trying to fish popcorn out of his teeth with pieces of metal.
Adam Martin, 41, developed an infection of the heart called endocarditis which is caused by bacteria spreading through the bloodstream.
He had had a piece of popcorn stuck in his teeth for three days and used a pen lid, toothpick, piece of wire and even a metal nail to try and get it out.
But jamming the objects into his mouth then led to a gum infection which spread to his heart and left him fighting for his life.
Doctors managed to save him through an operation to remove an infected blood clot from his leg and another seven-hour surgery to replace a valve in his heart.
Adam Martin, 41, developed a deadly infection just days after using various household objects to try and dislodge a piece of popcorn from his teeth
Mr Martin, who works as a firefighter in Cornwall, said he came down with a fever which left him seriously worried about his health. Hospital tests revealed he had an infection in his heart
‘I wasn’t far off death’s door and I am extremely lucky,’ said Mr Martin, from Coverack in Cornwall.
‘The popcorn stuck in my teeth is the only possible cause I can think of. I am never eating popcorn again that’s for sure.’
Mr Martin had developed endocarditis, a bacterial infection of the inner lining of the heart (the endocardium).
This can cause the heart to swell up and the valves to suffer serious damage and even destroy them completely.
Mr Martin, pictured with his children (from left) Holly (14), George (7) and Megan (15) had to have a total of 12 hours of surgery to repair his heart and artery
The NHS lists bacteria entering the blood through the mouth or a gum infection as some of the top causes of the illness.
And the metal nail, piece of wire and pen lid Mr Martin jammed into his gum to try and get the popcorn out may have triggered the reaction which nearly killed him.
The father-of-three had got the popcorn stuck in his teeth while watching a film at home with his wife, Helen, in September.
A week afterwards he developed night sweats, fatigue, headaches and eventually a heart murmur, which are all signs of infection.
He went to a doctor on October 7 and doctors diagnosed a mild heart murmur and sent him for blood tests and X-rays, which were uneventful.
Mr Martin was sent home with medication to recover under his own steam but, a few days later, he still had flu-like symptoms.
He also developed a blood blister on his toe – which was later diagnosed as a Janeway lesion, a sign of infective endocarditis.
Worried about his worsening condition, Mr Martin went to the Royal Cornwall Hospital on October 18. He was then diagnosed with endocarditis.
Although the popcorn didn’t cause Mr Martin’s illness, it may have been triggered by him damaging his gums with dirty items he used to try and get the food out of his teeth
Mr Martin developed a blood blister on his toe – later diagnosed as a Janeway lesion – which is a sign of infective endocarditis
He said: ‘I had a feeling there was something seriously wrong. I was sleeping an awful lot and I felt terrible.
‘I had aches and pains in my legs and I just did not feel right at all. I was admitted to hospital the same day for tests. By this point I was very worried.
‘I felt quite ill and I knew I was not right at all.’
A muscle ache in his leg turned out to be an infected clot wedged in his femoral artery, which required a five-hour operation to clear.
Meanwhile, Mr Martin was being treated with medication to fight the infection but chest scans revealed his heart had been severely damaged and would need an urgent operation.
He was transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, about 80miles (129km) from his home, on October 21 and had seven hours of open heart surgery to replace his heart’s aortic valve and repair the mitral valve, which had been damaged by the infection.
Mr Martin is pictured with two of his children at the hospital in Plymouth, some 80 miles away from his home, where he was taken for his lifesaving surgery
It took around a month for Mr Martin to recover completely from his ordeal (pictured left and right in hospital). He said: ‘It all happened so quickly and it did get sketchy. I won’t be going near popcorn again, that’s for sure’
Mr Martin said: ‘My heart was not properly working anymore. It was essentially wrecked. The infection had eaten the valves away.
‘I should have just gone to the dentist in the first place. I don’t want anyone to go through what I have done.
‘It all happened so quickly and it did get sketchy. I won’t be going near popcorn again, that’s for sure.
‘It’s crazy to think all this happened because of that. It was something so trivial.’
Mr Martin made a quick recovery following surgery and returned home to his wife and three children Megan, 15, Holly, 14, and George, seven, at the end of October.