- A 63-year-old man died on a Lufthansa flight on Thursday, according to Swiss-German outlet Blick.
- Witnesses told the outlet the man had blood gushing from his nose and mouth.
- The witnesses said passengers were screaming at the sight.
Any idea what kind of health complication causes blood to gush from your nose and mouth? Sounds insane to watch especially when you can’t leave the immediate area…
Critical care nurse here. The answer is esophageal varices.
It’s the same physiological anomaly as hemorrhoids, except in your esophagus. Swollen, fragile veins caused by increased internal pressure. In the case of hemorrhoids, that pressure inside the veins is caused by straining too much when trying to poo. In esophageal varices, the increased pressure inside the esophageal veins comes from blood backing up from a swollen, scarred, and damaged liver. So we often see esophageal varices in end stage alcohol use disorder.
Horror stories abound in emergency departments and ICUs of having to do CPR on a patient massively hemorrhaging out of their mouth from esophageal varices. As soon as nurses I know saw this report, our immediate thought was, “Yep, varices.”
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15429-esophageal-varices
My wife’s aunt died from Cirrhosis of the liver and “so much blood” is exactly what my wife said she saw.
Well that is pretty horrific
You know it’s a been a bad day when you arrive to your shift and the Blakemore box is out…
Obviously I doubt this but it’s a final phase of ebola.
Nah ebola is more of a oozing bloody mass. Gushing isn’t possible because low blood pressure is another complication. Also, late stage ebola this man wouldn’t be walking anywhere. Let alone well enough to be allowed on a airplane.
For real, I need a plausible explanation
Check the comments again, seems like we got it 🙂
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Oddly enough, alcohol abuse. It’s called esophageal varices.
It’s basically caused by veins in your esophagus rupturing. The same way you can have veins hemorrhage near your anus, causing hemorrhoids. In your esophagus, it’s usually caused by an enlarged liver putting pressure on the surrounding veins. And an enlarged liver is usually caused by end-stage alcoholism.
So the dude had an enlarged liver, (likely sue to a lifetime of alcohol abuse,) popped veins in his esophagus, and started coughing up massive amounts of blood. The dude likely wouldn’t have survived even if he was sitting in an ER when it happened. By the time it happens, it’s usually too late to fix; The victim will drown in their own blood before doctors have a chance to fix it.
But as a random onlooker with no idea what’s happening, it’s absolutely horrifying to see. It looks like something straight out the beginning of a zombie movie. Hell, even if you know exactly what’s happening, it’s still horrifying to see. But at least if you recognize it, you know it’s not contagious.
Source: Dated an EMT for a while, and she had a patient deal with one right after we started dating. I got morbidly curious, and regret the ensuing google searches.
I want to know too
T -virus
Imagine sitting next to this guy when it happens. That must be fuckin traumatizing
Imagine being that guy dying, listening to you scream your brains out in his final moments.
Seems like both suck pretty badly.
Yeah they’re both pretty equal.
imagine being the one trying to give him CPR
That’s now called “drinking blood”
Blood for the blood god?
Ruined clothes 😱
Hugs to his family and the poor flight crew who are no doubt traumatized by this and probably having to deal with an investigation, etc.
I’ve seen this movie. It did not end well.
Jesus, the beginning of the Fringe series came to my mind!
That’s the show, thank you! I was thinking X-Files but I just knew it was wrong.
It would be my immediate thought if I were on that plane. I’d be convinced he was patient zero.
I’ve seen some esophageal varices as a medic and let me tell you those guys are bleeders. Feel bad for people not knowing the situation, it honestly would look like he had something contagious so I can understand the freaking out. People barely survive this with care immediately available in a hospital so he really had no hope once it ruptured.
I have read horror stories that started like this. I am not sure I want to know what happened.
I ate a hot dog at the airport in San Juan once. The result is I lost 1/3 of my body weight, but it wasn’t blood.
you guys ever read The Strain?
Time to book an AirBnb in the far away country for 29 days
Seems like over the last couple of days this news is posted everywhere. I’m sure this kind of stuff happens every now and again, so why is it being pushed now? What is the purpose? What are we getting distracted from that needs our attention?
Touch grass dude
