Story of Live Cockroach in X-ray of a Patient: Fact Check

Story:

A patient in Zimbabwe had an x-ray taken on his chest. Doctors noted a live cockroach and recommended him to India for surgery. He sold everything and went to India, where another x-ray was taken, it showed he was fine. The cockroach was in the x-ray machine used in Zimbabwe.

Other Versions

A patient in Zimbabwe had serious chest pains, after taking x-ray at Rusape General Hospital the image showed that he had a live cockroach in his chest moving about. Doctors recommended that he goes abroad preferably India for urgent surgery. So patient had to sale his house and a few contributions from relatives. When he got to India another x-ray was taken and was told there was no cockroach in his chest but the cockroach was in the x-ray machine they used in Zimbabwe.

Fact Check:

Certain messages doing rounds online describe an unusual story of Live Cockroach in X-ray of a Patient. According to them, a patient in Zimbabwe had serious chest pains, after which doctors noted a live cockroach in his X-ray and recommended him to go to India for urgent surgery. Then the patient sold his house, gathered few contributions from relatives and reached India. But when he got another x-ray in India, the message claims, there was no cockroach in his chest and it was in the x-ray machine used in Zimbabwe. No, the bizarre story is not true.

He sold his house,took loans and borrowed more money 2 be able 2 treat himself abroad only to discover that the cockroach was inside the xray machine!!
— Nigeria Fact Zone (@NGRFacts) September 9, 2019

Not Live Cockroach in X-ray

Firstly, we did not find any credible report about the unusual story of live cockroach in x-ray of a patient. Different versions of the message are in fact circulating online since many years, citing different places like Nigeria. Notably, they also appear frequently on fun and meme websites – as Cockroach jokes.

On the other hand, the original image of chest X-ray belongs to American actress Marilyn Monroe. Note, it does not have any cockroach and clearly, it is a Photoshop addition. A young doctor took the chest x-ray of Marilyn Monroe in 1954 when she was admitted to the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital for surgery for Endometriosis. So, the unusual story of live cockroach in x-ray of a patient is an old hoax, which probably surfaced as a joke.