https://abcwednesday.com
When Auckland-based GP Diane Edwards decided to spend a morning pottering around in her garden, she never expected to end the day having lost half of her hearing.
The damage was done by the popular sword-leafed yucca plant, which recent medical research highlighted as a surprisingly common cause of nasty ear injuries.
"I was just clearing the dead fronds off the yucca we had in our pool area," Edwards said. "One of the leaves wouldn't come off easily and as I gave it a final tug it catapulted me backwards and as I fell one of the green fronds snaked into my ear and went right through to penetrate my inner ear."