Whenever experts talk about a nuclear disaster, they say cockroaches would be the most likely creature to survive the radiation. Now thanks to this story out of New Delhi, India, we know they can also survive inside your intestines.

Doctors at a hospital in the city were stunned this week to discover a live 3-centimeter cockroach in the small intestine of a patient complaining of stomach pain and indigestion.

The 23-year-old man visited Fortis Hospital in Vasal Kunj to complain about stomach symptoms he had been having for roughly three days. Too much coffee/fast food/carbonated drinks? Nope. Hiatal hernia-induced GERD? Nope. Just a live and healthy cockroach having a wander in his intestines.

The man was convinced the cause of his indigestion was some street food he had eaten day earlier, but when doctors conducted an endoscopy, they found the cockroach chilling in his small intestine.

“For the last two-three days, the patient was suffering from indigestion and bloating after eating food. It was during routine inspections that we incidentally spotted the cockroach,” Dr Shubham Vatsya told the Indian Express newspaper. “Even we were surprised as to how the cockroach managed to remain intact.”

After discovering the live bug inside the patient’s body, the team of doctors decided to remove it using an endoscope with two channels — one for air and water infusion and the other for air suction.

“We activated the suction button on the scope, effectively sucking the cockroach into the suction channel, leading to its removal from the body and saving the man’s life,” said Dr Vatsya explained, noting that failing to remove the insect as soon as possible could have caused serious complications, including infectious diseases.

So how did this 3cm cockroach end up in this man’s intestine in the first place? Well, Dr. Vatsya reckons that it could have crawled down his throat while he slept (WTF?), or the man accidentally swallowed it when visiting the night market. Jesus Christ…

What’s really shocking is how the cockroach managed to survive inside this man’s small intestine for all that time? You would think that the stomach acid or lack of oxygen would deal with the problem, but nope. There goes our sense of security on that one…

To watch a woman drop a cockroach in her meal to avoid paying a restaurant bill, click HERE. Busted.