A firefighter nearly lost his life when a piece of popcorn stuck in his teeth caused a blood infection that wrecked his heart valves.
Only open heart surgery saved Adam Martin, 41, who damaged his gums attempting to remove the snack with a pen lid, piece of wire and a metal nail.
A week later he began suffering from night sweats, headaches and a heart murmur – symptoms of the deadly infection endocarditis.
It allows bacteria to spread through the bloodstream and attack the inner lining of the heart chambers and valves.
The dad-of-three’s life was saved by surgeons who operated to repair and replace two heart valves.
Adam said: “The doctors told me if I hadn’t gone to the GP when I did then I could have been dead in three days.
“The infection had eaten my heart valves completely. I am never eating popcorn again that’s for sure.”
Adam shared a bag of popcorn while watching a film with wife Helen, 38, at the end of September.
A week later he visited his GP after suffering flu symptoms and was diagnosed with a mild heart murmur.
Adam, of Coverack, Cornwall, went to hospital on October 18 after his symptoms worsened.
Chest scans then revealed the damage to Adam’s heart and he underwent surgery lasting seven hours.
Doctors replaced his aortic valve and repaired his mitral valve.
“My heart was essentially wrecked,” Adam said. “If I had gone to the dentist then none of this would have happened.”
Adam, dad to Megan, 15, Holly, 14 and George, seven, made a quick recovery following the surgery and was discharged from hospital at the end of October.
