Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2014]
Origins: October 2014 saw the publication of an article about a woman in the central Colombian town of Honda who visited a local clinic complaining of abdominal pain. Upon examination, doctors discovered that an ill-advised contraceptive attempt had led the woman to use a potato as a form of barrier birth control and that the potato had since sprouted roots.
The purported case of a potato growing in the unnamed woman's vagina is attributed to "local news reports," but all media mentions trace back to a single article on Columbia Reports. Most notable is the story's exact resemblance to a decades-old urban legend regarding the use of potatoes as contraceptives among rural women due to insufficient sex education.
Last updated: 3 October 2014
 | Sources: |
Corbett, Craig. "Central Colombia Woman Grows Potato In Vagina In Ill-Advised Contraception Attempt" Colombia Reports. 1 October 2014 Hodgekiss, Anna. "Woman Who Used A Potato As A Contraceptive Is Hospitalized After It Began To Grow Roots" Daily Mail. 3 October 2014