A student had to have his limbs amputated after consuming his roommate’s leftover noodles.
According to a report by the New England Journal of Medicine, an unnamed man - dubbed as JC - fell extremely ill after eating "rice, chicken, and lo mein leftovers" that had been left in the fridge overnight.
The case, which was first brought to light in March 2021, stated that the student "had been well until 20 hours before this admission" and ended up developing abdominal pain and nausea.
Licensed toxicologist Dr. Bernard Hsu explained more about the "freak accident" in a video shared on YouTube in 2022.
JC was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital after suffering from "shock, multiple organ failure, skin mottling, and a rapidly progressive reticular rash," as reported by USA Today.
Hours prior to his admission, he had a series of alarming symptoms, including "chills, generalized weakness, progressively worsening diffuse myalgias, chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, neck stiffness, and blurry vision," Hsu said in the video.
He had also developed a "purplish discoloration" of the skin, which prompted his concerned roommate to rush him to the emergency department for an evaluation.
When he was admitted to the hospital, medics noticed that his vomit was a "greenish yellow color, not looking like any particular kind of food".
"Doctors started to notice a rash containing small spots emerging all over his body," Hsu continued to share. "At first, this mottled appearance looked like bruises, but then they became a deep reddish brown, red defined at the edges."
Watch the video below:The young man had no allergies and had all his childhood vaccinations, according to doctors' records shared by The Mirror.
Less than 24 hours after eating the stomach-curdling meal, his kidneys had failed and his blood started to clot so medics diagnosed him with a bacterial infection called Neisseria meningitidis.
His immune system had started responding, as Hsu explained: “It’s kind of like getting a cut on your skin - the bleeding stops eventually because of blood clot, then the area around the cut becomes swollen and warm."
“It is swollen because the blood vessels dilate so that more blood vessels can get to the area and the swelling is partly due to the fact that there is increase fluid and the warmth is the inflammation," he continued. “But, when bacteria is present in the blood, the entire body’s blood vessels dilate, dropping then blood pressure, preventing oxygen from getting into the organs."
"Little clots [start to] form everywhere, as they get lodged into small blood vessels blocking blood flow. As his hands and feet become cold, they are starved of oxygen," the doctor concluded.
As JC's condition suddenly deteriorated, he was transported via helicopter to the intensive care unit of another hospital that had more resources.
There, another problem occurred as he developed necrosis - which is "the death of the cells in your body tissues," cited by Cleveland Clinic. This is believed to have been driven by an infection called purpura fulminans, a severe complication of meningococcal septicemia.
As doctors saw that that his health was declining, they broke the devastating news that they had to amputate JC''s legs below his knees and parts of all 10 of his fingers. He also needed a pacemaker for 13 days to treat his cardiac dysfunction.
According to the report, the student's roommate also vomited after eating some of the same meal the night before but did not become ill.
In addition to this, the hospital staff found out that although the man had received his first meningococcal vaccine, he had never had the recommended booster shot as a teenager.
Dr Bernard said in his video while bacteria is transmitted through saliva, we'll "never know" what caused the food to have that bacterium in it.
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