An American man ended up with an inch-wide hole in his oesophagus after eating the brutally hot ‘ghost pepper’ during an eating contest.
The unnamed American ate a hamburger laced with ghost pepper puree – and began vomiting and retching violently.
When he was admitted to hospital, doctors found an inch-wide hole in his oesophagus, and he underwent emergency surgery and remained in hospital for 23 days.
The ‘ghost pepper’ or bhut jolokia pepper is a favourite among chilli fiends and competitive eaters – although it’s recently been surpassed in the global hotness scale.
The rupture in his oesophagus is known as ‘Boerhaave syndrome’ – caused by excessive retching or vomiting.