There are a lot of things that happen in a hospital ER. While most incidents are fairly common, there are some patients who come through with ailments so weird that it leaves medical professionals talking about it for years.
From hilarious intimate mishaps to dumb self-diagnoses, here are 50 bizarre and entertaining stories from doctors, nurses, and even some patients who have seen some pretty weird things in the ER.
1. Yikes, This Sounds Awful
I found myself in the emergency room when victims of a car crash and rollover were brought in. The individual behind the wheel hadn't been using a seatbelt which, at some point, led us to declare a "trauma alert."
This informed the medical team that his heart had ceased due to injury rather than a blockage. His outcome was terrible—his entire leg had lost its skin.
After experiencing this, I often remind myself that if I think my day is going poorly, at least it could always be more dreadful.
2. Ribbit, Ribbet
I conducted a stomach check-up on a significantly large woman (her BMI registered at 74). To my surprise, I discovered a decaying frog tucked under a fold of her skin—a fact she was completely oblivious to.
Apparently, the couple had recently gone for a swim in a local pond with unfortunately detrimental effects on the wildlife.
3. This Is Heartbreaking
One day, a real gorilla, not a man in a costume, turned up in my emergency room.
A nasty fight had erupted amongst the male gorillas at the local zoo, resulting in one gorilla dropping another on its head with quite a bit of force. The zoo staff had quickly inserted a breathing tube, aware of the gravity of the injury. In desperation, they reached out to our team of neurosurgeons, seeking their expertise as a final hope.
Accompanied by a set of IV distributions and a heart monitor, the gigantic creature was brought into our facility. After a CT scan, the grim realization dawned on the doctors—the injury was so severe that even if it had been a human patient, survival would have been virtually impossible.
The zoo staff was overtaken by grief, shedding tears for the fallen giant. The entire experience was profoundly heartbreaking.
4. This Is Very Weird
I work as a nurse in an emergency room. We once had a young homeless man walk in, complaining about pain in his private area. A quick check-up showed some serious problems: there was swelling, redness and infection, along with several puncture wounds healing at different times.
I asked him in a nonchalant way if he'd been using substances, and if he had been injecting them via his private area. He denied doing so, but he confessed to similar startling habit—using substances through his arm and then hiding the used needles inside his private part "for safe keeping".
An X-ray disclosed that around 30 small-sized needles were stuck inside his private area. He had snapped off the needles from the used injections.
We had to carry out an immediate surgery and managed to remove most of them. The patient, however, left against medical advice and it's been a mystery as to what happened to him subsequently.
5. Sad, With A Happy Ending
At Mt. Zion, UCSF: There was a man who walked in, gripped by a severe headache. To our shock, he'd attempted suicide using a 22-caliber pistol. This resulted not only in a concussion but also short-term memory loss because the bullet remained lodged in his head.
Despite this, we managed to extract the bullet successfully and he was stabilized. From there, he received the necessary assistance and care he required.
6. He Threw In A “Your Mom” Joke
In my days of hospital security, I've collected some pretty odd and amusing tales from the ER. One that's imprinted in my memory involves a kid under the influence of a hallucinogenic substance. He was so disoriented that he tried to plug his hand—which, in his mind, had become his phone—into the IV line in his arm believing it was the charger. For some time, he fancied that I was an FBI agent or a Sheriff's deputy and he was being held captive in a clandestine subterranean detention facility.
One iconic line from him that had me in stitches was when he was missing his lighter. He shouted out, "I reckon I left it inside your mom last night, would've expected you to have the decency to return it to me".
Valentin Angel Fernandez , Pexels
7. Did Not See This Coming
A young lad about 13 years old was brought into the Emergency Room. His mom was accompanying him and he complained of a stomachache—something pretty routine for us in the ER. While setting up the IV, I tried engaging him in light conversation, asking him if he'd eaten anything unusual, and so on.
His mom spoke up, revealing that they had left him home alone while they visited a friend. However, not even half an hour later, she received a distressed call from him, urging them to rush back home because something was amiss.
To their surprise, they found him in the bathroom with some adult magazines scattered across the floor.
This was something I didn't anticipate...never in my wildest dreams. Although we've dealt with similar situations, it was never with a child. The X-rays uncovered that he'd managed to push something quite deeply into his back passage, and it evidently wasn't going to come out without assistance.
What aggravated the situation was that the object belonged to his older sister.
Finally, we had to transfer him to a Children's hospital to undergo surgery to have it removed. The poor boy had my sympathies.
TommyStockProject , Shutterstock
8. They Took The Patient To 7/11
One time, we got a call for an ambulance from a man who'd been in a car crash. He'd been sitting in the front, and when his friend crashed into a lamppost, the post pierced right through his abdomen. The post was roughly 10 to 15 centimeters thick.
Ironically, him being impaled like this actually stopped him from bleeding out too much. When we pulled up, the fire brigade was trying to cut the lamppost. It was too long to fit inside the ambulance and cutting it too short could generate too much heat, possibly causing more injuries.
The situation wasn't great—but we knew we had to move fast. So, we drove the ambulance to the closest seven-eleven to buy some ice to cool down the post. Afterwards, we got him set up in the ambulance.
As we were driving to the hospital, I called the surgeon on duty, explained the situation, and he gave us the go-ahead to prep the patient.
When we were bringing him into the hospital, the pole was too big to fit through the elevator door and got stuck. We had to call in the fire brigade again, but they came prepared this time with ice packs from seven-eleven.
Once finally in the operating room, the medical team managed to remove the pole safely. Miraculously, the patient survived without any lasting impacts.
9. Ahhhh, No!
A man came in from the main door, clutching his...delicate areas...
He'd been scaling a flagpole, lost his grip, and found his nether regions snagged on the spot where the flag's rope gets secured.
That still stands as the most bizarre experience I've encountered in the ER.
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10. Even I Learned A Lesson Today
So there was this one time when I had plans to catch up with my mom for lunch. She's an ER nurse. Just as I was about to head out, she rang me saying that she was swamped with an incoming trauma and couldn't make it. Instead of going home, I decided to go see her at her workplace and wait. Boy, did I see something out of a horror movie!
A guy was hurriedly wheeled in, absolutely covered in fishing lures. Turns out, his friend had placed the tackle box on the dashboard, and when they had to hit the brakes all of a sudden, it popped open. The poor fellow had fishing hooks and lures embedded all over his face, arms, chest, and stomach.
With each breath he took, whenever his skin stretched, the barbs would tug and cause him unbearable pain. It was a frightful sight to see him in such agony every time he moved an inch.
That incident was one unforgettable lesson for everyone present that day.
11. Bringing In A Firefly
Growing up, I found my mom's tales from her EMT job entertaining, although now I realize they often required a strong tolerance for peculiar situations.
To illustrate, here's one story: An emergency call comes in about a dire nosebleed—the man's getting delirious, losing tons of blood, can't staunch it. The crew races over, expecting to find someone near collapse. Instead, they meet a perfectly fine-looking man who claims to be the one who made the distress call.
His appearance belies his claimed condition; not a splatter of blood in sight, and he's rosy-cheeked as you please. So they question what's really happening. He eventually confesses there's a lot of pain but hesitated to give accurate symptoms for fear they wouldn't dispatch an ambulance.
His blood pressure is checked while he explains his symptoms. The only caveat—he won't sit. By now, you can probably guess where it's headed...
Turns out, he was coaxing his girlfriend into a new experience, so he offered a demonstration. He did so using an aluminum flashlight, which unfortunately, wasn't well-manufactured. A tiny, jagged edge lacerated his inner colon.
Suddenly, with a jolt from the sharp pain, the slippery flashlight slipped completely inside him.
After loading him on the ambulance, the driver reported, "Ambulance 98 en route, transporting a 28-year-old male, severe 'constipation' alongside a foreign object, specifically a flashlight, lodged in his posterior. Yes, you heard it right—we have a 'human lantern' situation, please prepare for our arrival".
12. Sibling Rivalry
A man walked into the ER alone. In response to my question about what caused his visit, his reply definitely made my eyes roll.
He shared that he and his sister were in the thick of a debate about their car and its expenses, among other issues. Exhausted from their ongoing argument, he preferred to check into the hospital instead.
13. Oops, Someone Messed Up
Throughout the night, we had nine teenagers come in, each one escorted by their parents due to experiencing hallucinations. Over a span of four hours, they arrived one after the other. Yet, none of them could explain what happened.
Their tests came back negative, but they were all visibly disoriented. One of their siblings finally shed some light on the situation—they had all attended the same party. It turned out one teen had convinced the others to experiment with mushrooms—but they were non-psychoactive, mildly toxic ones, not the usual recreational type.
So, they all ended up having a wild trip that lasted the entire night. We had to keep them in the Emergency Room until their mental state returned to normal.
The hospital staff found it a tad entertaining, but as you can imagine, their parents were far from pleased.
14. Oops! That Was Close
So, I used to work at a hospital and we had this pretty unusual situation one day. There were people from the same household who were rushed to us because they were confused, a bit antsy and exhibiting other odd behaviors that were hard to put a finger on.
And within the span of an hour, we had more individuals from the same residence, using different ambulances, show up with almost identical symptoms.
Then one of our sharp nurses made the connection—these folks were all coming from the exact same place! So, she promptly got on the horn with the firefighters. It turned out, they were all dealing with effects from carbon monoxide exposure, caused by an open fire they'd had going inside their home.
Thankfully, everything turned out okay in the end for them.
15. Tick, Tick, Boom
One of the most shocking things I've encountered was when a guy walked in, gripping his own separated hand. Can you guess how he ended up in that situation? Well, he accidentally blasted it off with a DIY explosive.
16. He Looked Like A Halloween Decoration
During my time in an emergency room, there was an incident where a gentleman arrived with a ceramic turtle lodged in his...well, let's just say his forward region. A surgical procedure was necessary to take it out.
But that wasn't even the worst case. A man came in who had been savagely mauled by four pit bulls. He was in a state of cardiac arrest and, unfortunately, he more closely resembled a Halloween prop than a person.
These two events have had a lasting impact and I won't forget them anytime soon.
17. Bullseye!
My father is an emergency room physician, and he often shares some crazy stories from his night shifts.
One time, he returned home and relayed to me an incident about a burglar who had invaded a house that evening and was hunched over, busy foraging through the homeowner's stuff.
At the same time, the homeowner was tucked away in a closet just a few feet away with a crossbow in hand... They had to wheel the burglar into the ER after he was shot straight in the behind by the homeowner.
My dad admitted he'd never been so appalled by an injury until that sight.
18. What Nightmares Are Made Of
The scariest memory that comes to mind is about a young woman in her mid-20s, who was brought in after indulging too much in a substance she had bought off the street. She was a striking woman, but we had to hold her down because without the help of Narcan, she was drifting in and out of being able to breathe on her own.
Seeing her holler, panic, and rise on the hospital bed was eerily reminiscent of a scene from the film "I Am Legend." To put it mildly, it was absolutely hair-raising.
James Heilman, MD, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons
19. Weird Situation Calls For Some Weird Follow-Up Questions
As a paramedic, I once got called to an unforgettable scene. This happened years ago, but it involved a man who had tragically shot himself in the head right outside his former girlfriend's home. Strangely, no one seemed to have heard the gunshot. The emergency services weren't called until several hours later and it was a chilly night.
He'd fired the gun just above his right ear and the bullet exited near his left temple, making him lean forward slightly.
When I arrived and took a closer look, what I saw really left me shocked. A strange red, bulbous thing hung from the exit wound all the way to the ground. It turned out to be a frozen mixture of blood and brain matter that had oozed out slowly and solidified due to the cold air, like a grotesque icicle.
This thing was almost two feet long and it was by far the strangest thing I'd ever encountered. It was clear the man was no longer alive, and we made the decision on-site rather than attempting resuscitation, so we left him exactly as we found him.
As a result, I wonder about what happened to that frozen formation. How did the medical examiner manage it? Did he break it off? Chop it into manageable pieces for biohazard bags? I would be fascinated to see the photos they must have taken.
I’ll never have the answers to these questions, but they're the kind of peculiar details that pique my interest.
20. Apparently, This Happens A Lot
There was this elderly gentleman who suspected something was amiss with his lawnmower. He had a hunch the blades weren't spinning correctly, so he flipped the machine to take a look. However, the blades were still in motion...and things went south real quick.
In the process, he ended up losing the tips of some fingers on one hand. Despite being in shock and under the influence of pain relievers while I was performing his X-rays, he stayed surprisingly stoic, which helped me out as I was still a rookie learning radiography.
I've since learned, to my dismay, that these sorts of accidents occur more often than you'd think.
21. This Was Too Much For Them
A few years back, I was doing clinical rotations in the emergency room for my Patient Care Technician course. My first patient was an elderly veteran, brought in by his wife. He had a catheter but hadn't been able to urinate for almost a whole day, and was experiencing intense pain as a result.
The diagnosis was that there was a blockage somewhere. My mentor then decided to replace the existing catheter with a new one. This action triggered a surge of a thick, red fluid through the tube, filling an entire bag with what appeared to be at least a liter of it.
In a lighter vein, this incident turned into a running gag among us in the ER, with folks joking about how cranberry juice and canned cranberry sauce would never taste the same to them again.
22. Some People Never Learn
So, here's an outlandish, more bizarre than humorous, tale for you. I had a patient who showed up in the emergency room wearing just a T-shirt and a small towel tied loosely around his waist. Oddly enough, throughout the initial assessment, he vehemently refused to sit down.
Suddenly, he was hurriedly whisked away towards the back room—something was obviously not quite right. As it eventually unfolded, the patient and his partner had been indulging in a bit of risqué fun which ended up with an object getting stuck in his back passage.
This particular object featured a suction cup at one end which they had been using as a grip. Unfortunately, the object broke while they were desperately trying to remove it themselves. Eventually, we had to rush him to a higher care unit to undergo surgery to repair a perforated posterior.
And the icing on the cake?
Surprisingly, history repeated itself barely three months later, and the same patient turns up at our doorstep.
23. The Classic: I Fell
My mom used to work in the operating room. She often told me about the men who wound up there, claiming to have "slipped and fell" on various objects. The one that stood out the most? Well, that's when a man "slipped and fell" on a snow globe!
Her stories always bring a laugh to our conversations, even if I do feel a bit bad for the people involved.
Dark Light Studio , Shutterstock
24. Yeah, This Got Weird
At around two in the morning, the emergency service called us to inform about the next case (details like age, main concern, etc.). I picked up the call, and the paramedic on the other end was in splits. He said, "We'll fill you in when we arrive." At that point, I knew something weird was going on.
Soon, they brought in an elderly lady, which could imply anything from feeling dizzy while singing in the church to grappling with a severe urinary tract infection. The real matter was that she wanted a rabies vaccine, "just as a precaution", as she had been bitten by her "service animal."
So, we inquired, "What type of service animal do you have, ma'am?"
Her answer was, "A capuchin monkey."
Trying hard to suppress his laughter, the paramedic standing behind her shared that when they went to her house to pick her up, the monkey was lounging on the sofa, one hand rummaging through a Doritos packet, and the other...well, amusing himself.
It seems he wasn't very amused at being disturbed either.
25. Tales Of The Psych Ward
The most challenging situations often come from individuals using substances, particularly psychedelics, pushing you to your limits.
One alarming situation involved four teenage boys each consuming 6mg of Xanax. Three of them fell unconscious at home, while the other arrived at the ER, extremely drowsy, and his condition baffling us all.
We were unable to reach the other three boys he'd been with, as they were all unconscious at home, making it quite tricky to determine what substance he'd ingested.
26. The Lost Finger
I'm not an ER employee, but I happened to be in the ER when a wild scenario played out.
A duo strolled in nonchalantly, chatted with a nurse, and she naturally started asking why they bypassed the waiting line, and other immediate questions. Lots of questions.
The man, ever so cool, explained: "We were entertaining guests with a little wine and cheese and while I was slicing through some cheese, my finger got in the way."
Frustrated at this apparent lack of emergency, the nurse asked why he would jump the queue just for a cut finger. He fixed her with a patient gaze and dropped the bombshell: "No, you're not getting it, I sliced off my finger." He then revealed his heavily wrapped hand.
Panicking, the nurse dashed off to summon a doctor. In moments, three doctors swept in and took the man away. A different nurse asked about the severed finger, and his girlfriend said their friends were en route with it.
A short while later, when the initial chaos had settled, another duo materialized. They seemed to know the script, approached the SAME nurse, or had perhaps been pre-warned by the girlfriend. Rattled once more by their skipping the queue, the couple merely lifted a bowl and announced, "We brought the finger."
She snatched up the bowl and was off once more. It was such a whirlwind event, absolutely surreal. I sometimes wonder if my own discomfort amplified the intensity of it all. It felt like a chaotic scene straight out of a movie.
27. This One Is Interesting!
During my EMT refresher class, our instructor shared a story with us. One day, while he was at the station, a woman frantically pulled up with her daughter. The mother explained that they had been at a playground when her daughter began suffering from an asthma attack.
The little girl was wheezing consistently and sitting in a tripod position, scary symptoms that caused her mom to rush her to the hospital.
Upon assessing the girl, the instructor listened to her lungs, noting they sounded clear. He then requested another medic to escort the mother inside to collect her billing information. The medic gave him a confused look, but did as instructed. Once the mother was out of earshot, the instructor turned to the girl and asserted:
"Stop it! You're not having an asthma attack". To his amazement, the girl instantly stopped wheezing and replied, "Okay".
Upon further investigation, it turned out that while the mother wasn't looking, the daughter fell off a swing and got the wind knocked out of her. When the mother finally noticed, she misinterpreted her daughter's position as signs of an asthma attack.
The daughter, taking her mom's word for it, decided to play along, mimicking the symptoms she thought were associated with an asthma attack.
28. Mom’s Unnecessary Details
One evening, an elderly gentleman arrived with a plastic teaspoon stuck in his nether regions. When questioned about it, his reply had us all shook: "I did it for pleasure." We all wore bemused expressions. He quickly added, "In case you're curious, it doesn't work." He stated this very plainly. To be honest, we weren't curious.
Apparently, the nursing home where he lived stopped utilizing plastic utensils because of him. Yet, they were still baffled as to how he managed to get his hands on one!
29. This Is Why ER Shows Are Classified As Dramas
I once had the funniest French houseguest and he was a real character. He had a habit of waking up at the weirdest time, like 2AM, ready to chow down. He'd say, “Time for food, I'm going to fix myself some chicken”. He'd then grab a piece of raw chicken, ready to whip up a meal in the middle of the night.
One time, he went to grab a knife from the block, and lo and behold, he sliced his finger. How? I don't know. But the drama that followed would make you think he was on his deathbed. All he needed was a few stitches. Just rinsing the wound became a dramatic saga for him. But you can't help but love the French.
In another case, I encountered a melodramatic teenager who showed up saying he felt tingly, a tad anxious, and his heart was racing. He seemed a bit paranoid, too. Turns out, the guy had been smoking something. We simply gave him some water and a snack and told him to head back home.
Then there was another time when I had a six-year-old patient after a "Rollover MVC" (motor vehicle crash). Immediately, I thought I'd need all the trauma supplies I could get my hands on. My team and I were bracing ourselves for the worst.
But then, I looked up and saw the kid and his family all walking into my room. "Well, that's a good sign," I thought.
Turns out, it wasn't just a standard 85 mph rollover. The kid was the driver and had hit the curb.
Surprisingly though, he had hardly a scratch on him.
30. Because It Was Hot
I'm not a hospital emergency worker, but I'm someone with chronic illness who has had more than my fair share of ER visits. Trust me, the things you see and hear! Like this one time, a guy in the room next to mine managed to get himself into a real humorous fix – he got his manhood trapped in a toaster.
Non-stop, he was yelling "You've GOT to rescue my nether region!" amid his screams.
You'd be surprised how well you can hear through the thin walls of the hospital rooms. Even the staff, who I'm sure have seen it all, had to pause and chuckle at this unusual predicament.
I never did find out if the toaster was actually on. But it genuinely made me curious: how on earth did this situation even occur? Of all appliances, why a toaster.
31. I Can Think Of A Few Fitting Nick Names
Back when I was involved in Army OR work, we'd frequently receive urgent surgical cases from the ER.
There's one that particularly stands out—a PFC who accidentally injured his private parts with a karate chop. Believe me, you read that right. His privates had swelled to the size of a golf ball when he arrived.
Just as I returned from lunch and was figuring out my OR assignment, one of my unit surgeons gave me the scoop. With a smirk, he informed me I'd be joining him in tackling this peculiar case, promising it'd give me a good laugh.
We both headed to the OR, scrubbed down and prepared. As we were getting ready, the OR nurse began recounting the backstory she'd heard from her ER colleagues.
Apparently, the patient had a unique routine for his private activities, aiming to enhance the experience. He'd shared his strategy with the team in great detail, including eccentric techniques like applying gentle physical pressure at the climaxing moment.
Over time, these gentle taps had escalated into 'light' karate chops. Unfortunately, this time he'd overdone it, causing immediate swelling.
As expected, this unusual tale quickly spread throughout the OR staff, eliciting a good round of laughter. The ironic part? The patient was actually training to be an OR technician. Talk about an unforgettable way to start his third day of AIT!
Once he hit the phase of training that included observing OR procedures, he was infamously recognized as the guy who "karate-chopped his privates."
I just wish I could recall the amusing nickname we'd coined for him.
32. This Is Almost As Dumb As Tide Pods
Let me share a strange story a coworker once told me. She was hanging out with her college buddies, having a few drinks and watching TV. An odd fact came upon a show they were watching: apparently if one were to put an old-school round light bulb in their mouth, it'd slip in easily but taking it out would be a nightmare.
Naturally, they treated this as a dare—and as you can imagine, it did not end well. Two of her friends attempted it, and sure enough, they couldn’t remove the bulbs from their mouths. They hurried to the emergency room, where the doctor, far from impressed, had to carefully smash the bulbs with a small hammer to prevent injuring their mouths while getting the glass out.
Following many apologies, the group left the ER, only to see another group of cheerful college students walk in...
And, believe it or not, each of them had a light bulb stuck in their mouths.
33. This Is A Freak Accident, Right?
During my EMT training, I had to complete two overnight shifts in the emergency room. For the most part, it was pretty calm, but there was one unforgettable incident involving a teenage Hispanic boy who was brought in by his pals.
Evidently, his girlfriend’s ring had snagged on his skin. Ever been curious about what the inner part of a man's privates might look like? Yeah, I hadn’t either.
Apparently, it’s extremely smooth.
The physician began to sew up the wound, asking me to cut the thread every time he completed a stitch. Although it's not a typical task for an EMT, we were advised to assist the medical staff however they needed, so I took charge of snipping those threads.
The look of pure anguish on that young man's face is an image I’ll never forget.
I won't sugarcoat it, I needed confirmation from the doctor that this wasn’t a usual outcome of such activities. It was genuinely worrying.
34. Stage Five Whiner
My experience is too ridiculous to believe and it really grinds my gears.
On a super hectic day at the ER, amidst the height of COVID, a dramatic scene unfolds. A feisty 32-year-old chap comes in, upset about having to wait a good two hours... all because of a stubbed toe.
He had banged his little toe against a table leg and acted as if it was the apocalypse, describing it as the "most severe pain he'd ever felt". His fuss was great enough to require an assessment and some soothing. Was his toe fractured? Negative. Was it swollen? Nope. Was he still in pain? Not at all. Was it bleeding? Nah.
He justified that his five-minute pain was so unbearable, he just HAD to see a doctor—because it was so excruciating, we wouldn't be able to imagine it.
Oh, but I can. Everyone's had a stubbed toe here and there. It's a nuisance, then it's usually okay. You can hold tight while I attend to my COVID patient who's struggling to breathe.
How preposterous it is. It still gets my blood boiling even now.
35. This One Is Wholesome
While my job doesn't place me at a hospital, it does necessitate my presence there for generating incident reports regarding sketchy injuries faced by people—you can only imagine what I do. This particular case I'm about to discuss unfolded as I delved deeper into conversation with the young boy involved.
A boy of 12 pops up in the ER flanked by his friends in the early hours of the morning, looking to lodge an incident report about his injury. When I reach, I ask him about the incident and if his parents were informed.
The young fellow portrays a picture of being bitten by a mouse and his need to report the incident. A mouse had bitten his finger? Exactly that—a mouse had actually bitten him. The hospital staff cleaned and treated the bite promptly and I rang up his folks to collect him.
Subsequently, I discovered that he was a minor on the run who had been living under a bridge for the last four months, cohabiting with rats and mice.
This incident, as small as a mouse bite, finally paved the way for him to be back with his parents. Luckily, it turned out to be a joyous reunion.
36. They Always Say, You Know Your Own Body
Isn't this an oddball story for you: I'm employed in the Emergency Department and we once had a patient pop in at 3 a.m. He'd just eaten a bowl of cucumbers and oddly enough, he hadn't burped.
Usually, he always belches post cucumber consumption and this instance was unusual. His concern was through the roof, prompting him to get immediate medical attention.
37. Whoa, Talk About A Miracle
Here's a story that's less about humor or strangeness and more about pure disbelief. I believe it still merits a share.
Let me set the scene for you—I'm in my usual spot at the emergency department when a lady shows up around four in the afternoon. She's experiencing some light neck pain. Now, earlier in the day, she was part of a car crash and the medics who checked her over at the scene had given her the all-clear.
But, they also gave her a warning. If a headache or neck pain kicked in, she should head to the ER. Given her mild discomfort, she decided to play it safe and check with us.
Thank goodness she did.
Our first step was to apply spinal precautions and whisk her away for an x-ray. After her return, she was resting in her bed, still wincing at her neck pain, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, the radiologist's voice comes thundering down the phone to the ER, commanding, "DO NOT LET THAT WOMAN MOVE."
Why this sudden outburst? Well, her x-ray revealed a c1 dislocation. To put it more plainly, her skull had shifted away from her topmost vertebrae. A slight twist or turn could have been fatal.
Yet, she had managed to walk right into the emergency room, several hours post-accident, never once making that life-ending wrong move of her head.
Emergency surgery was immediately called for, and thankfully, she made it through.
38. The Classic DIYer
You know, I'm not employed in an ER, but I do have this rather eventful personal account of an ER visit that shook things up quite a bit.
Here's the picture: my friend and I were working on my truck, specifically unscrewing body panels. Each of us had a role—I kept the wrench steady on the bolt while he used a high-powered electric tool to rapidly loosen the nuts. Now, there was this one particularly tricky bolt, and sure enough, my grip on the wrench slipped.
Next thing I knew, the wrench was spinning wildly, and my thumb was pinned to the truck frame by the open wrench end—and this was happening at full throttle!
We rushed to cool it under running water, then applied anything we could find as makeshift wrapping. Once that was done, I ended up lying on his floor for a couple of hours, until I got a call to head into work. Barely had I started when I was told to turn back, as it turned out I wasn't needed.
As I drove back, I noticed a couple of things: I was still losing blood at a steady rate, and, as a rather fortuitous happenstance, I was driving right past the hospital. It seemed like the universe suggesting I get checked out, especially since my day was suddenly free.
So there I was, as cool as can be, walking up to the reception desk. The receptionist barely had a chance to greet me before she exclaimed, "Oh, you’re bleeding"! To which I could only respond, “Yeah, uh, can't seem to get it to stop".
After they had me soak my hand in some solution to gently ease off my homemade "bandage", they went about removing my array of dressing—paper towel, electrical tape, gauze, and yes, even the nasal strips we'd used in our creative attempt at bandaging.
Once that was off, they stitched me up, gave me a proper bandage, and instructions on how to keep it clean. The nurses chided me a little for not coming in sooner, but my innovative bandaging technique tended to draw out chuckles.
I continued to spot a bit of blood under my nail for a few more days. Fast forward to 10 months later, and my thumbnail is finally starting to regain its old self.
ShotPrime Studio , Shutterstock
39. Ok, The Ending Though
This story is not only bizarre, it's one of the most unsettling things I witnessed in my early days in the emergency room.
A lady had hacked off her own hand with an old, rusty axe because, according to her, she had committed a sin and Jesus advised her to do it (pretty extreme, eh?).
Interestingly, she wielded the ax from the top down and, luckily, her metacarpal bones stopped her from slicing through the tough ligaments and tendons. Now here’s where it gets eerie:
It looked like the hand was nearly entirely disconnected (only about 2% attached), but when the doctor held the hand while I held the forearm, she could wiggle her fingers on command.
Can you believe that? It sent shivers down my spine! There was a two-inch gap between her hand and forearm except for some lingering tissue and despite it all, she moved her fingers!
Surprisingly, the hand was rescued after a lengthy surgery and, as far as I know, it recovered well, except for the original necrotic issues.
But the story doesn’t end there…Rumor has it she fell into sin again and this time, the hand was beyond saving.
40. Not Once, But Twice
There was a time when a woman accidently sealed her eyes closed using superglue, and she turned up at the ER.
Late one night, she confused her superglue bottle for an eyedrop container, and inadvertently squeezed several drops of the adhesive into her eye.
And the craziest part? She did this to BOTH eyes. Beyond the first error, she thought, "this is likely alright" and repeated the exact same mistake with her other eye.
Truly unbelievable.
41. ‘Til Death Do Us Part…Not!
During a tender moment with his new girlfriend, a man ended up in the emergency room. What happened? Well, a bulky leather-bound photo album dropped from the top of a tall dresser and struck him on the head.
He ended up needing a dozen stitches and some layered suturing, but fortunately, he avoided a skull fracture.
Now about the album... it turns out it contained pictures from the lady's wedding day with her late husband.
In jest, we later speculated that it was the late husband's spirit showing disapproval of his wife's new beau.
42. Adventures Of Preteen Boys
I remember when I was a police officer, stationed at the ER during the nighttime. A frantic lady showed up after she was bitten by a snake in her garden. Her hand was noticeably swollen and was in a state of panic, unsure of what breed exactly bit her.
Not long after, a pair of kids, around 12 or 13 years old, came rushing into the ER with a headless snake in a Ziploc bag, which they found in their yard. They had cycled all the way from their home to the hospital just to present the snake that bit the woman to the doctors.
Their empathetic act was both amusing and strangely touching. They were genuinely concerned and wanted to help identify the snake that bit the woman.
43. I Heard This Can Last Hours Sometimes
So, there I was in the ER as a patient, right? Just a few cubicles away from me, this guy was losing his marbles because he'd eaten an "edible" brownie that was apparently way too potent. It was actually kind of amusing.
Over and over, he kept frantically saying, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe", and the nurse calmly responded, "But you are breathing, you're doing fine".
A friend of his chimed in, "I warned you not to eat the whole thing".
Meanwhile, the nurses were continuously handing him cups of water and assuring him that he'd just have to wait it out, although nobody could say exactly how long that might be
44. He Was Like A Tipsy Winnie The Pooh
I used to visit the emergency room quite often when my mom and grandma were unwell, alternating turns as patients. At least once a week, I'd be there with either of them, which resulted in me getting to know the medical staff quite well. The ER I frequented was a sprawling room filled with multiple beds, only separated by curtains.
This meant there was minimal privacy, especially when doctors or nurses discussed medical matters with each other or various patients. One day, a man who only spoke Portuguese arrived needing an interpreter. I could not see him, but from what I heard, he was struggling to articulate his problems. The odd truth, however, would soon be revealed.
The interpreter had a booming voice, and from his translation, I learned, the man had indulged in drinks, and in an tipsy state, he discovered what he believed to be a beehive. He decided to open it to enjoy some honey.
An adorable idea, but sadly, it turned out not to be a beehive, but a wasp's nest. He ended up being stung numerous times, especially around the mouth and face. I wish I could have seen him, because every person who did, let out a gasp of shock upon entering the room.
45. Sad Yet Interesting
During my time in the mental health ER, I encountered a truly unique case—a situation of Foile a deux. That's the fancy term for when two people share the same delusion.
In this instance, it involved a mother and her daughter. The mother was incredibly fearful, convinced that the government was spying on them, even reading their thoughts. Unbelievably, they would carry around aluminum foil in their handbags, using it as homemade 'thought-blockers' to stop the government from peeking into their minds.
But here's the truly unusual part—she'd brought up her daughter to believe in this wholeheartedly. They were discovered in a public transportation terminal, attracting attention due to their odd behavior which led the authorities to bring them in for evaluation.
Communicating with us was a struggle for them; they hardly spoke and certainly didn't provide any information about their origins or destination. I suspect the names and birth dates they gave us were made up. They resolutely refused to be separated and we couldn't force it either, as the mother had a heart condition, and any stress could potentially trigger a heart failure.
The team wanted to admit the mother, as her paranoia was evident, but they couldn't risk separating her from the daughter. Ultimately, they released them, as they didn't pose any danger to themselves or others.
We tried to arrange a free taxi ride for them, to get them safely to anywhere they wanted to go, but they disappeared before the car arrived, melting away into the darkness.
Just to highlight the rarity of such cases, in all my 10-plus years working in psychiatry, this was my only encounter with a shared psychotic disorder.
GagliardiPhotography , Shutterstock
46. Should I Eat This?
Once upon a time, I treated a guy who thought it'd be a great idea to eat a mushroom he found growing in his local area. He ended up rushing himself to the emergency room and spent the whole night yelling at the top of his lungs.
The most standout thing about him? His not-so-bright decision and the non-stop screaming. He wasn't just yelling periodically throughout the night... he screamed with his every breath. Over the years, I've had my fair share of patients who have taken pain to unimaginable extremes...and this guy was definitely one of them
47. Clearly, She’s A Zombie
A lady walked into the emergency room feeling distressed because she couldn't locate her pulse. Just to clarify, this woman walked INTO the emergency room on her own, but she firmly believed she wasn't going to make it.
The nurse responded, "That's unusual. Typically, people in your situation are unable to walk or hold a conversation."
Interestingly, this isn't always the case these days.
48. She Had A Blood Bowl With Her
A lady walked in having given herself quite a deep slice while preparing her meal. Rather than applying pressure to halt the blood flow, she made things totally worse—she was merely allowing her blood to pool into a big bowl in her kitchen.
49. It Was All An Act
I once had an unforgettable experience when I worked as a volunteer intern (not medical, but rather as an emergency front-line assistant). A key memory that stands out involved a 13-year-old boy sporting a rat-tail braid. He had landed in the ER after an impromptu stunt ended badly.
He and his buddies had thought it'd be a brilliant plan to get rather tipsy on a boisterous, hard liquor; subsequently deciding a daring leap from a second-storey window was a sound next move in their adventurous evening.
Treating his injury proved to be a challenging task as we had to painstakingly staple his head wound without any painkillers due to his high alcohol intoxication. The cherry on top was the moment his mom arrived.
His bravado melted away instantly and he burst into tears, pleading, "Mama, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to disappoint you, don't be upset".
This moment held a tinge of comic relief in an otherwise serious situation since we were stationed in a less safe neighborhood in Long Beach and the lad was previously putting on quite the tough act.
50. The Words Were Stimulation Enough
You know, I haven't personally worked in the ER, but I love sharing this wild tale that originates from my dad's former girlfriend who did. She dealt with this one case about a man who had been suffering from persistent hiccups for a solid week. Despite his best efforts, nothing seemed to help, and desperation was setting in.
The medical staff racked their brains and attempted all possible remedies, but surprisingly enough, their usual tricks didn't seem to help either. Their only choice, then, was to hit the books and seek out some unconventional cures. Luckily, they found one such cure.
They came back to share this newfound approach with the man. Strangely enough, the moment he heard the term "digital rectal stimulation", his tedious hiccups miraculously vanished on their own!
Sources: Reddit,
