We all like to rant and rave about our workplace annoyances—but what about workers in medical professions? These poor souls face terrifying, heartbreaking—and mostly just plain disgusting—experiences, and they have to attend to them STAT. These Reddit stories, however, come with a warning: only the brave, and those with stomachs of steel, should read on.
1. She Was Lying In Wait
One evening, I received an urgent call to a specific room in the hospital. Receiving an urgent call essentially means, "Stop whatever you're doing immediately and handle this emergent situation." Upon entering the room, I found it to be empty. No patient was in sight. I was ready to exit the room and return to the bustling nurse’s station, which I had hastily passed earlier—but something peculiar caught my attention.
My gaze shifted upwards, to the ceiling, whereupon I was struck with an eerie shock. I uncontrollably yelled out in fright. Staring down at me was a face with intense, slightly erratic "psych eyes". This woman had evidently taken to hiding on the ceiling, thinking it was the best place to escape those she believed were trying to harm her. She was on the waiting list for a bed in the psychiatric ward. I can’t recall another time when I've been this utterly terrified.
The scariest part was that I had to hurriedly cross the room and walk directly beneath her to get assistance from the nursing staff and security to help her descend.
2. This Is Why We Have Two
During my medical training at a military hospital, we often offered free healthcare to those unable to pay for it themselves. I recall a particularly unusual tale about a woman in her seventies who visited us about an issue concerning her rear end. But the odd part was yet to come.
As the doctors were gently rolling her, one of them tried to support her by holding onto her arm, and to their surprise, it seemed to be loosely connected at the shoulder, just moving freely with the skin.
They immediately checked on her, asking if she felt any pain, but she simply dismissed it as a problem with her "bad arm". Apparently, she had fallen when she was 16 and dislocated her shoulder. With no access to medical help, she just learned to live with the condition for some 50 long years.
She informed us she realised she would never regain use of that arm. One of the doctors told her that early intervention could have easily reset it without surgery at the time of injury. It's pretty heartbreaking every time I reflect on her story.
3. Right Angle? Wrong Angle
I once had this student who was a nurse. She was a lovely and fairly reserved woman in her 30s. Given the presence of three other students, two of whom were just 22 years old, I innocently asked her about any shocking experiences she might've had at work, expecting a mild story in return. Boy, was I wrong!
It all started with her story of a man who showed up at the hospital with a "swollen" problem in his private area. Alarmed, I asked if it was inflammation of his scrotum. "No," she clarified, "not swollen," and then she made this unforgettable hand gesture to explain the man's condition—one that was more of an awkward bend than simple swelling. Picture a hand rising straight up like a poised karate chop, then bending at a sharp 90-degree angle in the middle. I was truly taken aback, and the classroom burst into laughter with disbelief.
Here’s the kicker—the culprit? Not the man's wife, but his mistress. In an attempt to shield his wife from the scandalous reality, he fabricated a story about a nasty bicycle fall that had supposedly caused his injury. His desperate wife was beside herself with worry, imploring the doctors to help her husband. However, the truth eventually unfolded. Unmoved by the tale, the doctors and nurses revealed what really happened to the shocked wife.
4. Location, Location, Location
I'm employed at a hospital, and one incident that comes to mind involved a prescription for a deworming medication which had an astonishingly high dosage. It was so large that it appeared to be a mistake. So I did what seemed logical, I reached out to the doctor to double-check. To my surprise, it wasn't an error, and he explained the unusual situation. I have to admit, it's one of the most shocking things I can recall in recent times.
As it happens, the patient was suffering from Cysticercosis, a type of tapeworm infection. What made this stand out wasn't the infection itself, but rather its location. The tapeworm had made its home inside her brain. Despite the severe doubts from both me and the doctor about the effectiveness of the medication, the physician admitted there were absolutely no other options available.
5. I’d Like To Lodge A Complaint
I'm studying to be a psychiatric nurse, and during my time at a ward for seniors with dementia, I had an unforgettable experience. I had just aided a patient with their meal when a call from down the hall caught my attention. The patient finished eating, so I took this opportunity to check the situation. I hoped that the call, coming from an unstable elderly lady's room, wasn't due to a fall. But what I found, I wish it had been as simple as a tumble.
Let's refer to the lady as Betty. I found her in the corridor outside her room, her hands unmistakably covered in feces. I inquired if she'd had an accident in the restroom. It's not uncommon for older folks to face such issues, and I'm not here to add to their discomfort.
I entered her room to assist her in cleaning up, and that's when the stench engulfed my senses. I paused for a moment, trying to comprehend the scene before me. There were bits of feces splattered everywhere: the walls, the closet, her fresh clothes, the bed, the door. Despite the mess, I reassured myself that we could manage. But something didn't add up.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed there wasn't any substantial "deposit" one would expect with this level of mess. Then I spotted something on the floor, like feces that had been scooped up. It was then I noticed the sliding marks... and the dinner plate on her bedside table. It was piled high with feces.
I stood there, frozen, as reality sank in. It took me a while, maybe five seconds, to snap out of it and call for backup. Whether this was Betty's commentary on the hospital food, I can't say. But, in the end, it's certainly a story that leaves an impact during dinner conversations.
6. This Dora Over-Explored
I was attending to a toddler in the clinic—he was just three years old. His mom shared that she'd been noticing a peculiar odor around his face for the past week. Whenever she kissed him, brushed his teeth, or drew near his mouth, the smell was noticeable. I took a closer look at him and noticed something white lodged in his right nostril, partly hidden by mucus.
I grabbed the alligator forceps and enlisted the help of two nurses to keep the youngster still—he was surprisingly powerful. After a bit of effort, I managed to remove a crumpled-up sticker from his nostril. It was damp, covered in green mucus, and the odor was overpowering—downright foul. His mom then filled us in that she'd bought him a Dora the Explorer sticker set about a month ago, and she'd noticed a few were missing. And just like that, we had our answer to the mystery.
7. I’m Still Standing
During an overnight shift at a mental health clinic, one patient unintentionally managed to escape through his window and jumped from the second story. We immediately dashed outside, stunned to see him standing upright on the grass below. It felt incredibly miraculous. However, he was letting out piercing screams and, for some baffling reason, remained standing.
Upon drawing closer, we understood why he maintained his upright stance. His fall resulted in both his legs breaking clean off. The shattered remains of his shins had penetrated the ground, somewhat reminiscent of two biological spears. Even now, after several years, memories of the blood, the horrifying sound of the bones, and his screams make me cringe.
8. He Was Missing A Head
Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) were dispatched to an accident site where a bus had collided with a cyclist. When they arrived, they discovered the cyclist was not showing any signs of life. This was not surprising, given that the cyclist had been decapitated.
The EMTs tried to locate the head, but were unsuccessful. Eventually, the decapitated body was transported to the hospital. During an X-ray examination, the doctors were taken aback by what they saw. This provided the resolution to the unexplained case of the missing head.
Incredibly, the impact had forced the cyclist's head right into his chest cavity, occupying space usually filled by the heart and lungs.
9. It Broke Her Heart
I work in the field of veterinary medicine, and the experiences involving children often hit me the hardest. Sure, adults can be pretty sensitive too, but I guess I feel particularly awful for the youngsters because I was lucky enough to have my cherished childhood pets with me until I grew into my teenage years. The most heart-wrenching situation I encountered was during my time as a receptionist at a clinic.
We were caring for a puppy suffering from parvo, a serious infection, that had arrived in precarious health. The puppy belonged to a family who, sadly, were struggling financially.
This puppy was an adorable lemon beagle. When his owner discovered that even the most comprehensive and costly care might not save her pet, she decided to bring him home for the limited time he was expected to live. Her young daughter, around four or five years old, was waiting in the reception area. Upon seeing her mother return with the beagle, the little girl's face lit up, and she rushed towards them, beaming widely.
The child falsely assumed that her beloved puppy was healed and looked forward to many years of companionship ahead. The mother's expression at this moment shattered me. It was utterly heart-wrenching.
Sign up to our newsletter.
History’s most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. Making distraction rewarding since 2017.
10. His T-Shirt Predicted It
I work as a respiratory therapist at a Level One Trauma Center. Once, we had a patient arrive who had suffered a severe leg break from a motorcycle accident. His femur bone was visibly protruding, with bits of his leg dangling and touching the bed. Unfortunately, his wife, who was on the motorcycle with him, didn't survive the crash.
The most heart-wrenching detail of this tragic event was that he had on a biker shirt that said, "If you can read this, the wife fell off." A pretty chilling and dreadful coincidence.
11. They Just Fell Off
I'm studying to become a doctor. During one of my rotations in the Emergency Room, a considerably overweight man was admitted. His family explained that he had been acting very strangely recently. As we were waiting for the results from the routine blood and chemistry tests, I went over to check on this man. Without a medical degree yet, I honestly had no idea what could be wrong with him.
Having asked all the questions I could to a man who seemed quite incoherent, I started to conduct a physical check-up. When I took off his socks to assess his foot'a pulse and reactions, I felt something akin to large stones within the sock. Intrigued, I emptied out the sock onto the bed. To my shock, three of his toes tumble out. It was the most alarming thing I'd ever witnessed.
Eventually, the lab results arrived, showing off-the-charts blood sugar levels, which was not surprising. We were able to piece together what had happened. The man suffered seriously from diabetic neuropathy and a continuous, severe level of high blood sugar. He had lost the feeling in his toes due to poor circulation, and his mental confusion prevented him from checking them regularly. As a result, his toes had simply fallen off.
12. This Coffee Tastes Funny
Once in the Intensive Care Unit, a patient was producing a lot of phlegm. In the midst of switching out the collection tool, the nurses managed to gather some of it in the closest thing they had at the time: a Styrofoam cup.
When the chaos settled and everyone resumed their usual tasks, one nurse had the worst luck ever—she confused the cup filled with phlegm for a coffee cup, and took a sip.
13. Teenagers Bad, Aunt Good
Currently, I work as a veterinary technician, but I'll be going to nursing school in the not-too-distant future. One time, I encountered a large mastiff/St. Bernard mix, weighing around 160 pounds. The owners believed he had a tapeworm, but boy, were they wrong. When another female technician tried to take his temperature, she screamed and made a beeline for the door. What I found were maggots around his tail area.
As I started cleaning and shaving his excessively thick fur, the extent of the infestation became apparent. His skin was literally teeming with little holes, which were filled with maggots moving in and out. Gradually, as I kept shaving him from tail to rib, the extent of the infestation became more and more apparent. It was a nightmarish sight. I positioned him above a tub with a grate, making it easier for me to wash away the maggots. Altogether, I spent four straight hours cleaning him and managed to remove two whole gallons of maggots from his skin. But that wasn't all; they had invaded his intestines as well.
Later, we managed to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The dog’s owners had gone on a vacation to Europe, leaving the care of their dog to their four teenagers. The kids, though, were being watched by their aunt who was utterly petrified of dogs. This meant our furry friend, with his massively thick coat, had been left in the rainy, humid conditions typical of a Charleston spring.
The dog likely developed a small patch of moist dermatitis that went unnoticed and untreated, which only got worse. Half of his body was affected in the end. All the children were there when the vet explained the severity of their pet's condition and sadly, the only option was euthanasia. There was no sign of regret or even concern from any of them.
Only the dog-fearing aunt stayed with the poor creature until the end. She held his head in her lap, crying for what he had endured. Throughout it all, he was such a brave boy, only craving some petting.
This was the one and only time my work brought me to tears.
14. It Just Spilled Out
Hi there! I'm a pharmacist, but I often assist with anesthesia during surgeries in the evenings. The most alarming incident I've experienced happened during a seemingly-simple procedure.
We were treating an overweight patient who needed a boil on her arm to be lanced and drained. It all appeared to be straightforward, but as soon as the small cut was made, a popping noise filled the room. Unexpectedly, the patient's skin split wide open from her elbow to her shoulder. This was quite a surprise! What followed was even more distressing, as blackish fluid and pus began to ooze out, indicating that she had been suffering from compartment syndrome. The mess quickly covered the surgery table.
Sadly, no amount of peppermint-laced gauze could mask the unpleasant odor coming from the necrotic tissues.
15. Thank You For Sharing
Even though I'm not a medical professional, I still work in a pharmacy and have overheard some pretty shocking tales. It seems like some folks really have no filter. One day, our regular pharmacist got a phone call from a customer who's known to be a bit eccentric. She had just undergone an upper stomach procedure and had been given medication to help eliminate the residual radiation from her system.
She launched into a vivid monologue, in a voice so loud that our pharmacist put her on speakerphone for us all to hear. The woman revealed she had spent most of the night in the bathroom. All of a sudden, however, things stopped moving. And it was hurting her. So, strangely enough, she ended up using a metal nail file to... Well, you get the idea.
Apparently, she was bleeding substantially after that. But instead of seeking help or advice, she simply used a tampon to stop the bleeding. According to her, she wasn't in need of any medical assistance because, incredibly, she thought she was just fine. She didn't call to ask for advice or help, she just wanted to pass along her story.
16. There Was A Direct Link
One day, a patient walked in struggling with a severe sore throat. In the middle of my check-up, he suddenly began to gag intensely, then opened his mouth and it almost looked as if every drop of blood within him poured out. Eventually, we discovered the disturbing problem—his esophagus was rubbing against an adjacent artery. If this isn't handled properly, the tissues can fuse, creating a direct channel between the mouth and heart.
17. It Went Nuts
One sunny day, a kindly lady of middle-age was happily tending her garden when unexpectedly, her dog lost control and attacked her in the yard. This horrifying incident seemed to last an eternity, until at last, a neighbor, alerted by the commotion, rushed over, and with a heavy heart, had to put down the dog to save her. I could barely believe my eyes, the scene resembled a tiger attack rather than a dog's aggressive outburst.
The gravest damage was dealt to her arms and hands, which she'd been using to fend off the dog. Tragically, she lost both her hands. To describe the scene, horrific would be an understatement.
18. There Was A Boy There
A few weeks back, a nonagenarian gentleman was admitted to the hospital. He had dialed for an ambulance himself, which is quite brave. I perused his medical history and it revealed he lives by himself, like many elderly folks do. As his story unfolded, it became clear that he had forgotten to take his dementia medication. On top of that, he was becoming more disoriented and dehydrated because he was also skipping meals and neglecting to drink enough water. But that's where his tale takes an unexpected turn.
The elderly gent explained that he had been sharing his home with a silent young boy at that time. According to him, the boy had been in his room, quietly sitting on his bed, for nearly a week. This setup was alright with the old man until he grew concerned on the third day. The boy, he observed, hadn't eaten or drunk anything in all this while. Worried for the boy's health, the elderly man called for an ambulance fearing the boy might faint from dehydration.
The paramedics arrived and were led around the house by the senior citizen in a search for the boy, which lasted for about 20 minutes. Eventually, spending a sizable amount of time in the house, they noticed that his medicine wasn't being used as it should be. They concluded the 'boy' might be a hallucination, a side effect of his neglected medication, and hurried the gentleman off to the hospital. In a tragic yet fortunate twist, it seems the old man's concern for his illusory companion inadvertently ended up potentially saving his own life!
19. Zombie Pirate
I work at a senior living facility as an activities coordinator. One day, as I was distributing the morning papers, I heard a sweet voice from one of the resident apartments down the corridor. A lady asked me if any of the nursing staff had arrived yet. I hadn't checked at the time, so I told her I wasn't sure but offered to find out for her.
When I looked up, I saw her clinging to a sturdy support rail we keep like a ballet bar on our walls. Her left foot was barely attached, only by its ligaments, and dragging behind her. She was essentially walking on her bare bone. I did my best to stay calm and not upset her. Gently, I helped her sit on the floor before I rushed to get emergency help and my supervisor.
She must have had a fall during the night but didn't think it was severe enough to alert a caregiver or anyone else. She spent the night on the safety pad we place on the floor to prevent injuries from bed falls. Now, with the morning light and hearing my footsteps in the corridor, she picked herself up and asked for assistance.
I admit, it was an awful situation, and I initially felt rotten for laughing, but for a brief moment, I entertained the notion that she was a zombie pirate.
20. A Living Anatomy Lesson
For a month, I was positioned at a hospital in Nepal. It's the norm for people here to use motorcycles as their primary mode of transport, thanks to limited road regulations and lax enforcement. Unfortunately, this results in a high rate of accidents involving these two-wheelers. On one of my routine shifts in the Emergency Room, a man was rushed in, his entire lower body shrouded in blood-soaked sheets.
His family informed me that he'd been involved in a motorcycle crash. Prepping myself for the sight of a partial amputation or severe crush injury, I peeled back the sheets. However, the emergent situation I was faced with was something the medics later referred to as a "degloving". This type of injury isn't uncommon in Kathmandu.
The sight was something I'd never encountered before—in essence, his leg had gotten tangled with a spinning tire. The resulting torque and friction tore his skin completely off and flung it away, leaving the rest of his leg untouched but skinless.
Interestingly, without its skin, his leg gave the appearance of a real-life anatomy class model—until it was eventually amputated.
21. She Couldn’t Speak
As a med school student, the most heart-wrenching scenario I've encountered was a woman experiencing a series of strokes in quick succession. Her neurological functions took a real hit from these incidents. With a typical hemiplegic stroke, she tragically lost mobility on her entire right side, even losing all feeling in her arm.
That was awful, but then it got even worse. Another stroke came along, resulting in her losing her ability to speak. Imagine the unbearable suffering she went through, unable to verbally articulate her immense pain for two days straight.
22. Oh, That’s Where I Left It
A woman who was struggling with obesity visited our hospital, expressing discomfort in her lower abdomen. She directed our attention to the spot just above her pelvic area. Lifting her shirt, it became clear that the source of discomfort was beneath a fold of skin. To our surprise, embedded deep within the fold, was a splinter; approximately 20 cm (8 inches) in length.
This was no ordinary splinter, it was both unusually long and thick. It was the splintered end of the piece that was causing her discomfort. With great care, we managed to extract it and showed it to her. Her response took us by complete surprise. "Oh, that's my homemade stomach support! I use it to help support my abdomen when my husband and I are intimate. It seems to have broken."
23. He Wasn’t Licking His Own Wounds
As a home care worker, I provide support for individuals in their own living spaces. Roughly a month ago, I visited a client whose case notes mentioned a few bed sores. However, once my coworker and I turned the patient over, we found the sores were as big as two tennis balls. Shockingly, we could see directly into his hip bone on both sides.
The open wounds were still fresh and seeping. The overpowering scent of decaying flesh filled the room. Adding to the dreadful situation, when I returned for my shift the following week, I found the patient's dog had climbed onto the bed and was licking his sore! The poor gentleman couldn't even move his arms. I can't help but hold the district nurses responsible for leaving him in such neglected condition.
24. Driving With The Top Off
So, there was this guy who met with a bizarre accident while driving his convertible. Crazy thing is, the top of his head was completely sliced off, yet his brain was astonishingly untouched. You would think that'd be impossible! Anyway, he was brought to the hospital, unconscious, and a whole team of nurses and doctors rushed to treat him.
The scenario was mind-blowing: the man was laid out flat on the operating table, his exposed brain visible, basically at the mercy of gravity. Next thing you know, the poor guy starts hurling. I bet most of you understand gravity, but let me spell out the scene anyway.
He's flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. His brain's just there, out in the open. Suddenly, he begins to throw up. The sick, obeying gravity, follows a path right back on his brain. In simple terms, he was upchucking on his own brain.
25. I Heard Everything
A while back, I found myself at a hospital visiting a buddy who was recovering from a minor heart condition. We were not alone in the room; an elderly lady was also being taken care of in the same space. Not too long after I arrived, a member of the nursing staff made her entrance, bedpan in hand, and proceeded to draw the thin curtain that split the room in two. Regrettably, this curtain did nothing to muffle the somewhat disturbing sounds originating from the older woman's side of the space or the nurse's remark that followed.
"Yes, it might seem like it's simply a bowel movement," the nurse was heard saying, "but it's predominantly blood."
26. Car Crash Changes Life
I'm not a doctor or a nurse, but there was a time when I considered going to medical school. I had a passion for biology and anatomy, and even earned my Boy Scout first aid badge and CPR certification. I thought my purpose was to help heal others, and I was primarily interested in potentially becoming a surgeon. However, an encounter with a horrifying traffic accident changed all that.
This accident occurred in a remote location, far from any city, and emergency services hadn't arrived yet. Injured people were scattered everywhere. Many were motionless and, as I learned later from a newspaper report, some had tragically lost their lives. One woman's experience affected me more than the others. She was held down by three other motorists.
She was desperate and tried to free herself from their hold in an attempt to stand, yet she had lost most of one leg. I always believed I was prepared for such a situation to test my medical knowledge, but, in reality, I couldn't bring myself to step in and help. While some people stopped to assist, others decided to turn around to avoid the accident altogether.
I, regrettably, fell into the second group, driving away while overwhelmed by feelings of shame and disappointment. In the end, I swapped my medical aspirations and chose to study computer science instead.
27. It Was The Size Of A Grapefruit
I'm no doctor, but I've had my fair share of hospital experience, having worked in a histology lab. I've seen a lot of gross things (like dissecting the amputated leg of a very overweight patient with blocked arteries – turned anatomy class by the manager), but none left an impression quite like the teratoma. In case you're wondering, a teratoma is a cancerous growth that can pull in genetic material from different body parts, and it can be downright disgusting.
One day while I was busy organizing slides, we received an entire ovary harboring a teratoma. Just so you know, the teratoma was as big as grapefruit and the ovary, it resembled a pale, tiny sock. Picture a faint sock attached to a big, pale grapefruit – that's pretty much what it looked like, which should've been my first clue that things were about to get icky.
My lab chief stepped forward to perform the cutting procedure. No sooner had he sliced into the teratoma, it literally exploded, with gooey stuff splashing all over. He ended up swapping everything, from the scalpel blade, the worktop cover, to his surgical apron. It took another five minutes to drain all of that mess into the sink.
Upon prying it open, we saw a gray substance, something like a secretory gland, lining the interior of the teratoma, mixed with strands of hair. Digging deeper, we hit a solid, round structure at its core. We pulled out a bonesaw to split it open all the while my supervisor shared his experiences of discovering fully grown eyes at the core of teratomas.
Once we cracked open the solid core, we found a full-grown tooth. It was a sight that left me shaking my head in revulsion.
28. Maybe Someone Needs To Define “Lucky”
I spent a few years employed at a hospital. One evening, a five-year-old child was admitted to the emergency ward. The youngster had seemingly been having fun with a yard marker flag. Unfortunately, the little one tripped while running, and as a result, the flag's metal pin pierced through his mouth, pierced the back of his throat and came out from his neck's rear side. It didn't look so good—but the universe had other plans for this boy.
On the child's arrival, we had no choice but to bind his hands together to prevent him from moving the wire and potentially causing nerve damage. We conducted all necessary examinations and ultimately came to the conclusion that this kid was incredibly fortunate. Turns out, he had just missed hitting his spinal column. This essentially implied that we could tranquilize him and carefully extract the wire.
29. It Feels A Little Dry Down There
A young woman comes into the hospital complaining of an unusual odor in her private area. The doctor checks it out and finds that something's definitely wrong. Delving a little deeper, the doctor discovers an object lodged within. Curious, the doctor asks if she's aware there's something stuck and if she has any idea what it could be.
She acknowledges that she does know what's stuffed in there—it's the lid to her deodorant stick. Without questioning her reasoning, the doctor simply lets her know he'll remove it. However, her response stuns both the doctor and myself. The woman promptly interjects, "No, don't remove that. I'm using it as a form of birth control."
30. I Had To Pick Them Up
As a technician in nuclear medicine, just last week I was carrying out a Lung V/Q scan on a gentleman suffering from congestive heart failure. This condition resulted in a fluid buildup, causing each of his testicles to swell to the size of grapefruits. The only reason I'm aware of this was because I had to gently place them on a cushion—they were too uncomfortable to rest on the scanning table.
31. He Was Big But Also Small
I was not a doctor nor a nurse, but for nearly five years, my role was to transport patients within the hospital. One aspect of the job involved taking those who had passed away to the morgue. One night, I was summoned to the emergency room to move a patient that had passed away to the morgue. What we found when my fellow transporter and I entered the room was quite unusual.
The passed patient was significantly obese but incredibly short. I don't have precise figures, but he appeared to be about 4 feet tall and weighed around 350 lbs, making him almost as wide as he was in height. His skin showed signs of trapped air pockets, possibly because his small lungs couldn't support his large body weight any longer.
We faced a problem because he didn't fit on our standard morgue cart due to his size. We sort of improvised and had to cover him with blankets then transport his entire bed to the morgue, all the while, assisted by security. As it wasn't regular practice, controlling and navigating the bed through the hallways was quite a challenge because of the uneven weight distribution.
32. He Couldn’t Control Himself
On one occasion, I performed a wet-to-dry dressing change and applied a wound vacuum on a man who was suffering from a flesh-eating disease on his thigh. In an urgent surgical procedure, he had a fasciotomy performed, which stretched from just above his knee up to his hip and groin.
At first, it was challenging, but it was somehow manageable—a bit like viewing a body-world exhibit where the emotions could be detached from the gruesome reality of his damaged leg.
However, things took a turn—right when he lifted his leg for me to clean the underside. The flesh on his thigh hung saggy and loose, similar to the tricep of an elderly person. Suddenly, he started experiencing uncontrollable flatulence. What had initially felt like an impersonal medical procedure suddenly became deeply human—a man, painfully vulnerable, and literally skinless from groin to knee was now unintentionally releasing gas amidst our interaction.
Put yourself in this situation: Look at your own thigh and imagine it without any skin or fat, only muscle, tendon, and a thin layer of blood. It wasn't exactly gruesome compared to some things I've encountered, but compartmentalizing my feelings about his condition was challenging.
During the lengthy procedure, I could feel the sweat rolling down my own brow. Regardless, I managed to hold casual conversations with the guy, who was surprisingly cool throughout, and ultimately, I got the task accomplished without incident.
In my nursing career until now, that was the perhaps the most intense situation I'd yet encountered.
33. He Kept A Chunk
You see, my dad is a dentist. One evening, the local emergency room rang us at the house—they needed Dad to treat a patient, because they were clueless about how to help her. Good guy as my dad is, he agreed to open up his clinic just for her. I tagged along to assist with preparing the examination room.
An ambulance arrives, and they wheel an elderly woman into the clinic. Straightaway, we are hit with an awful odour. Her face is bandaged heavily, blood already soaking through and staining her shirt. Dad and I suit up with double gloves and masks, and then he began his examination. He found something unusual poking through her lip. It was a hard, mustard-yellow object, similar to a piece of rock candy.
Dad prodded it a bit, and a part broke off. Attached were four pieces—what once were this woman's teeth. It came out that this 78-year-old had never brushed her teeth—not once. The thing embedding her lip turned out to be a tower of plaque. Dad did what he could to clean the rest, but the buildup was so extensive, it had rotted away all of her teeth and significant portions of her gums. There was even an abscess that went down to her jawbone.
To this day, Dad displays that plaque piece in a jar in his clinic as a frightening reminder for kids about the importance of brushing their teeth every day.
34. He Can’t Forget
I work as a doctor. During my training period, I spent two months in the general and vascular surgery department, where it was quite common to perform amputations. We carried out a below-knee amputation on both legs of a patient with poorly managed type 1 diabetes, giving the medical terms a miss, we were basically cutting off both legs just under the knees. Oddly, there was very little blood loss during the procedure due to the patient's poor blood flow.
The lead surgeon mentioned that it was highly likely we'd have to amputate higher up in the future. The reason being, the ongoing poor circulation would hamper any healing process. Soon after the operation, the patient suffered a severe heart attack leading us to rush him in for stenting and into the ICU. When our follow-up visit happened a few days later, as we had previously assumed, the wound healing was not going as hoped.
To review the state of the amputation sites, the lead surgeon and I began to carefully remove each bandage. In doing so, when we lifted the upper leg to aid the process, it became apparent that the remaining 4 inch segment below the knee on each leg was starting to come apart from the rest of the leg above it. The cause was the largely gangrenous, necrotic tissue. The accompanying sounds and smells are things I'll never forget.
35. Scouring Pads Are For The Kitchen Only
I work at a neighborhood pharmacy, so while I don't come across anything too gruesome, I do witness people making questionable decisions on occasion. One regular customer came in who had been complaining about itchiness around his backside, some blood in his waste, and discomfort when using the restroom—this had been going on for quite a while.
I informed him it's probable he had severe hemorrhoids that he shouldn't try to treat himself, but needs to get professional help immediately.
Seemingly dismissing my advice, he returned a week later requesting 90 or 99% isopropyl alcohol. I felt obligated to inquire about the reason for his purchase. To my shock, he confessed that in an attempt to manage his itchiness and hemorrhoids, he had been using a metallic cleaning brush on his rear end. Afraid he may have caused an infection, he was planning to use the high-concentration alcohol to sterilize the area. I did my best to hide my disbelief.
He added that the Crown Royal whisky he had been using was too harsh and ineffective, hence his need for something stronger. I insisted, NO WAY! NO WAY! As he moved away, I spotted what appeared to be stains from blood, pus, or waste on the back of his sweatpants. I quickly beckoned him to hold on while I dialed an ambulance.
Later on, I learned that he was in the early stages of cellulitis, a nasty skin infection that could develop into a flesh-eating disease, on his posterior, and a bloodstream infection was starting.
36. There Were Two Snakes On That Picnic
So, picture this. A couple decides to have a cozy picnic in a field when things start to simmer down a bit. All caught up in the moment, they miss a big red-belly black snake slithering nearby. Now, this snake seems to have quite a sense of timing, and chooses this moment to strike. Guess where it bit him?
You got it—right on his manhood. So here's our couple, scrambling into the nearest emergency room, the man clutching his injury. They're panic-stricken, of course. But the hospital staff acts swiftly, and before long, everything's okay. I will say this, for a week afterwards, there wasn't a person in that hospital who could keep a straight face.
37. He Was The Creepiest Creep
I don't want to overstate it, but when I was working as a medical aide, I was involved in one of the most shocking experiences on the job. This particular time, I was helping my supervisor, a physician, in an autopsy. We were trying to determine the reason behind a patient's death. Another doctor had made a diagnosis that my boss had doubts about. The entire process was quite unnerving, especially seeing the woman, a patient I recognized, lying there completely exposed.
We began the autopsy, and to say that it was disconcerting is an understatement. There was no blood present because it had already been drained. Moreover, she was extremely overweight, and the amount of fat under her skin was incredible to witness. As my supervisor delved into her intestines, he tied off the ends to prevent any unpleasant odors. He collected samples and put them into plastic receptacles.
The most harrowing part for me, though, was dealing with the mortician who was concurrently working on others. Honestly, he was the most unsettling person I'd ever met. He wasn't unpleasant, but his appearance was unnerving. He bore a striking resemblance to a horror film character with deep scars, dark eyes, raven hair, and he wore a bloodstained, thick white rubber apron. Quite horrifying!
A particular moment that really unsettled me was when I asked the mortician about the identity of a covered person nearby. He informed me it was my dentist! I was totally taken aback—I had no idea he had passed away!
38. It Was Moving
Here's a spine-chilling tale from my early days as a medical intern in neurology. Once, I encountered a man from Southeast Asia. He was presenting with disturbed mental functioning, abdominal pain, and abnormal liver test results.
Now, the intriguing part begins with the images we captured of his abdomen through plain films, CT scan, and MRI. There was a mass, but something was off about these pictures—the size, the shape of the mass, it seemed to be unclear and constantly changing.
This mystery deepened during an ultrasound session. We caught the sonographer off guard, as the presumed 'tumor' was not stationary, it was moving on the screen! It unfolded that this patient had contracted a mischievous parasite during his recent visit to family back home.
The peak of this story was when the 8 cm (around 3 inches) long worm was captured live, active, and squirming on the recorded footage of the examination, from within its murky hideout. What a sight it was! Almost made our entire medical squad queasy that morning!
39. Tires Would Have Saved Him
Even though I'm not a medical expert, I do work as a firefighter which exposes me to various kinds of emergencies. About a year ago, we received what was reported as a person who'd had a car fall on his face. This fellow was in his garage, working under his car while enjoying a smoke. He had the car elevated on scissor jacks, but worth mentioning, the front end, where he was working, did not have tires on it.
In an unfortunate turn of events, one of the jacks slipped from under the car leading to the entire car's weight to crash onto the side of his head. With no tires to break the fall, it was a direct hit. We quickly inflated our airbags to lift the car, managed to extract him and place him on a stretcher. It's astounding that after taking a huge hit, approximately over a thousand kg (2,500 lbs) directly to his head, he only ended up with a broken eye socket and a scrape on his cheek.
40. He Couldn’t Stop It
In the first year of my primary surgery training, I was the on-call doctor at a tiny rural hospital. There were only two of us on the night shift, myself and a medical intern, with no emergency room physicians available.
Around 11 pm, a young man in his mid-twenties staggered in after a brawl. His nose was bleeding profusely and visibly broken.
I had a hunch that he might have other hidden facial injuries, but he was conscious and able to chat with me. Apart from his nose, he appeared okay. I spent roughly 45 minutes struggling to stem the flow of blood. I used an array of nose packs, applied pressure, and even attempted to inflate a catheter balloon to staunch the bleeding. Despite my efforts, nothing was working and he was beginning to show signs of shock. I'll admit—I was becoming pretty terrified at this point.
Judging by his vital signs, I figured he had lost nearly 1.5 liters (50 oz) of blood. The closest proper surgical hospital was a 45 minute drive away, and my supervisor was at home, a 25 minutes drive from our hospital. In the end, I managed to obtain four bags of O-negative blood from the lab (thanks to a lab technician being on-site, which was a fortunate coincidence), placed the still-bleeding man in an ambulance, and urgently sent him to a city surgical center.
About three hours later, I received a call from a surgeon at the city hospital. He told me he'd brought the patient into surgery and managed to stabilize the situation. The patient had been perilously close to death—about 15 minutes away. If you arrive at a small hospital like ours with such severe bleeding, data shows you're in a dangerous situation. This young man was incredibly fortunate that his friends brought him in so quickly.
41. He Carried Him In
I was a young doctor on the emergency response team. One day, the doors to our ER burst open, revealing a man carrying another man, soaked in blood. We immediately put the wounded man onto a stretcher, and it becomes evident he's been shot in the chest and is now in cardiac arrest. The senior doctor quickly starts chest compressions, and within minutes, he's beginning a cardiac massage through an incision in the injured man's chest.
Our cardiothoracic team swiftly joins us, focusing on repairing the heart. They locate and temporarily plug a hole in the right ventricle using a Foley catheter. Throughout this urgent process, we're continuously infusing the patient with O Negative blood, trying to replace what he's lost.
Following about 15-20 minutes of high-intensity care, something miraculous happens: his heart starts pulsating independently. The patient is immediately taken to the operating room, where the hole in his heart is permanently repaired and tubes are put in place to drain the blood from his lungs. Incredibly, his heart keeps beating, and after a few weeks in intensive care, he opens his eyes in the trauma ward.
Several weeks pass, which includes dealing with minor oxygen-related brain damage and an impressive chest scar, but he's finally able to leave the ward. Walking out with his father, the man who brought him in, was truly a sight to behold.
42. They Used Her As A Case Study
Even though I mainly conduct research and don't practice medicine, I recall an example from my undergraduate studies my anatomy teacher shared. One woman in the same department had been in a catastrophic car accident. She was driving quite fast when the crash occurred, and her seatbelt didn't lock as it should. Consequently, her face crashed into the steering wheel, breaking her mouth, nose, cheekbones, and forehead. Remarkably, she sustained no brain damage.
It seemed that her face operated similar to a car's crumple zone, absorbing the impact. As her skull fragmented, it created more room for her brain to swell without causing any harm. Naturally, she underwent extensive reconstructive surgery, and, interestingly, after a year, she partnered with my tutor for a research project.
She served as a real-life case study, opening the door for investigating novel treatments for serious head injuries. They developed new action plans based on where the skull had been compromised. In essence, they concluded that if one must suffer a head injury, a blow to the face is preferable to one to the temples since it significantly increases survival chances.
43. He Just Had To Squeeze By
In my role serving meals in the kitchen, my job was delivering trays of food. There was this one man I served who had a severely infected foot. His toes were a rotten black color and the rest of his foot didn't look much healthier. If I had to guess, I'd say he was probably in line for an amputation as his diet was designed for a diabetic patient. The stench in his room was unbearable.
These rooms are typically small, meant for two people. But in this case, due to the uncomfortable odor from his infection, the other bed was vacant. Even so, I still had to maneuver past the foot of his bed. While paying careful attention not to tip the food tray over any medical equipment, I inadvertently rubbed my leg against his infected foot, protruding from under the bed covers.
Shockingly, his large toenail—complete with some tissue—got stuck to my leg. We both looked at each other in terror. After gathering my composure, I asked my routine questions, tidied and set his table, delivered his food tray and wished him a pleasant day. Once I left the room, I quickly made my way to the nurses' station to get help to remove the decaying toenail from my leg.
One of the nurses managed to remove it and disinfected that part of my trousers with a solution so potent it smelled as if it could strip paint off a car.
44. Don’t Be A Baby
A woman rushed into the ER, wailing about stomach pains. Over and over, she cried out, "My baby's gone! My baby's gone!" But here's the kicker: there was no record of her having been pregnant at all. Once we got her in a medical gown, an incredibly foul smell enveloped the room.
My doctor decided to do a pelvic exam and asked me to assist. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he pulled out a pinkish-brown blob—it was a big chicken leg! Turns out, what this lady referred to as her 'baby' was actually a raw chicken leg she had, for some reason, stuffed up her body. So, in reality, she wasn't missing a baby, but she is definitely in possession of a chicken.
45. Our Jaded Jaws Dropped
I once found myself working in an emergency room in the beach resort area of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This place is known for its untouched white sandy beaches and popular sport fishing—you get the picture. One time, another medic and I had the usual task of moving a body to the morgue, assisted by our shift supervisor who was responsible for assigning morgue drawers and handling required paperwork. When we opened the heavy metal drawer, we expected it to be either empty or to contain a body, but what we found left us speechless.
Inside the drawer, there was a sailfish of gigantic proportions. It was so massive that the fish barely fit, its body arched and sail flattened. We were left scratching our heads, unsure of how to handle this unusual situation. Our NCO then advised, "It might be best if we don't recall this incident. I'll take care of it in the morning.” With that, he moved on to the next task.
Later, a rumor circulated suggesting that the sailfish actually belonged to one of the head surgeons.
46. It Was The Size Of A Bagel
Around thirteen years back, when I was a medical student, a woman from South America visited us. She was seeking assistance from American physicians to treat her breast cancer. She was fairly affluent but it seems that her family made selective decisions about her treatment. When she finally reached us, her condition was shocking.
What we identified was a metastatic tumor on her arm, which was as big as a bagel. Additionally, it carried the odor of decaying tissue. Even more distressing was her chest wall being overtaken by a tumor. So much so, that her rib cage was visible. Her family was upset when they learned that we couldn't simply remove the tumor from her arm. The entire emergency room was filled with the stench of decaying meat.
47. Get Back In There
Once upon a time, a primary care doctor, or PCP, embarked on a journey to an undisclosed location in Africa with the Peace Corps. After his return, he couldn't shake off an unrelenting fatigue that wasn't a problem before his African adventure. The perpetuator turned out to be a situation beyond his wildest dreams. He one day noticed a strange throbbing sensation in his eye and rushed to the emergency room (ER).
Shockingly, the ER doctor discovered a tiny worm squirming around in his eye. Typically, this type of worm chooses the vicinity of the brain as its home, but in the doctor's case, it had somehow journeyed into his eye. The ER doctor, taken aback by this peculiar case, called for the attention of a fellow specialist. Yet, by the time the colleague reached, the worm had, once again, left the eye.
Fast forward about a month, the eerie throbbing in the PCP's eye was back. Instead of rushing to the hospital like before, he decided to handle the situation himself this time. He heated a needle over his stove and geared up to expel the parasite from his eye. In the year or two that followed, he repeated this DIY procedure and managed to extract around five worms, if my memory serves me right. After this daunting ordeal, he finally started to feel better.
48. Not Your Ordinary Blackhead
I used to work at a senior center near my home and found myself assisting a particular elderly man one day. I noticed on his hip, he had a decent sized bump, about 5 cm long. On the surface, there was a blackhead roughly the size of a dime.
As per procedure, I put on gloves and, after receiving his approval, I pressed gently on the blackhead. I couldn't beleive it—a roll of gauze surfaced from the lump. This gauze was a leftover from a hip operation he had undergone 10 years prior, which he had neglected to have removed.
The scent was incredibly unpleasant and that's an experience I'll always remember.
49. A Repeat Offender
There's this man who lives on the streets who frequently comes to the emergency room where I work. It seems he had a significant operation about a decade ago where doctors removed something from his abdomen, in that general vicinity. Following the operation, he decided to leave the hospital before he fully recovered, without giving his body a chance to heal properly. Instead, he continued engaging in drug use, which impaired his body's ability to recover.
Now, this man visits the ER around once every week to have his intestines bandaged again. Whenever he comes, the nurses have to cleanse and sterilize the intestines before re-dressing the wounds. All they typically do is take a large bandage and wrap it around his torso. Ethere are occasions when you can see him outside the hospital, tending to his intestines himself, using a plastic bag to hold them against his stomach as he enjoys a cigarette.
50. This Experiment Went Very Wrong
A 13-year-old boy and his mother showed up in the ER one day. The boy had been complaining of painful stomach issues, and although he tried to convince his mom it was nothing serious, she brought him in when she noticed him bleeding from his bottom. We decided to perform an X-ray and were genuinely shocked by what we discovered. Plainly visible on the X-ray was a 14-inch rubber object.
At this point we hadn't discovered its color, but we learned later it was black. The item had lodged itself deep inside with his attempts at retrieval likely driving it further up. It's been pressing against his intestinal walls while the past three days' worth of waste had accumulated on top of it. We moved him into a separate room, hoping he would share a few details before describing the situation to his mother.
The boy didn’t have much to say, so we informed him that surgery was necessary to remove the inserted object. At first, he refused, insisting that he just felt ill. We inquired once again about what could be causing the obstruction in his gut. His response nearly left me chuckling. He suggested he might have accidentally sat on a marker.
Sources:
