Four-year-old Paul Franklin from California (center), got an "owie" when he fell and cut his knee on a rock during a family vacation to the beach, reported the Orange Country Register.
A doctor prescribed antibiotics for a staph infection after his knee became swollen and infected. Despite a 10-day course of heavy medication and frequent cleanings, Paul's knee did not heal.
When his mom, Rachel Franklin, removed the bandage she saw this:
The knee was a mess, with a large pus pocket and, behind it, black and necrotic-looking tissue. Gangrene, she told herself, preparing to rush her son to the emergency room.
Against the doctor's advice, Rachel decided to squeeze the wound to drain it. She squeezed and tugged, and a tiny black snail popped out of her son's knee. A living baby sea snail.
Paul's father, Ken Franklin, thinks that an egg might have been forced into Paul's knee when he fell on the rock. The egg gestated inside the knee and the snail was born.
Paul has named the baby snail Turbo. He now resides in a fishbowl along with Dory, the family's pet fish.
Paul's knee has healed completely, but Turbo might be dead. There has been no movement nor bubbles from him.
