The woman, whom the article identifies as a 64-year-old resident of southeastern New South Wales, Australia, was admitted to a hospital in January 2021 after complaining of diarrhea and abdominal pain for three weeks. She had a dry cough and night sweats.

Over a three-month period in 2022, she experienced forgetfulness and worsening depression. An MRI showed that she had a brain lesion and, in June 2022, doctors performed a biopsy.

Inside the lesion, doctors found a “stringlike structure” and removed it. The structure was a red, live parasitic worm, about 3.15 inches long and .04 inches in diameter.

[The worms are usually found in carpet pythons. The woman had no direct contact with the snakes but she gathered a spinach-like green plant at a nearby lake where the snakes are found. She probably didn’t clean the greens well enough and accidentally consumed worm eggs. Absolute nightmare fuel.]