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Daily Record
Daily Record
Health
Kirsty Card & Graeme Murray & Hannah Mackenzie Wood

Student loses legs after eating leftover takeaway and contracting sepsis

A student lost his legs after developing deadly sepsis from eating his friend's leftover takeaway.

The patient, identified only as JC, consumed a chicken noodle dish that a pal had ordered the night previous.

However, he fell ill immediately after the meal, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

His temperature sky-rocketed and he had a heart rate of 166 beats per minute when he was rushed to hospital and sedated.

Dr Bernard, who runs the YoutTube channel Chubbyemu, posted a reenactment of the 'freak incident' explaining how the infection took over the man's body so quickly.

The young man did not suffer from any allergies and his vaccinations were all up to date according to his medical records, the Mirror reports.

The Journal said he rarely had alcohol, had two packets of cigarettes a week and smoked marijuana on a daily basis.

According to Dr Bernard, 'JC' had to have limbs amputated after developing the severe infection. (Chubbyemu / YouTube)

The Daily Star reports his condition worsened and he had to be airlifted to another hospital by helicopter for further treatment.

The report in the Journal said: “The patient had been well until 20 hours before this admission when diffuse abdominal pain and nausea developed after he ate rice, chicken, and lo mein leftovers from a restaurant meal."

The NEJM said JC worked part-time at a restaurant and had not travelled recently or had any other exposure to animals or ill people.

It reported his dad had coronary artery disease and his brother had suffered viral meningitis when he was six weeks old.

The patient was taken to the intensive care unit of another hospital by a helicopter for further treatment. (New England Journal of Medicine)

The Journal said: "The abdominal pain and vomiting were followed by the development of chills, generalized weakness, progressively worsening diffuse myalgias, chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, neck stiffness, and blurry vision.

"Five hours before this admission, purplish discolouration of the skin developed and a friend took the patient to the emergency department of another hospital for evaluation.

"It was confirmed he was suffering from an aggressive bacterial infection that made his kidneys fail and his blood began to clot."

The bacteria in his blood results came back positive for Neisseria meningitidis which is a form of sepsis which can kill sufferers.

It's believed he became infected by the bacteria through his saliva and he had missed a booster jab for the meningococcal vaccine which he was meant to get at the age of 16.

The tissue on his fingers developed gangrene, as did his legs down to his feet resulting in the amputations of parts of all of his fingers and below-knee amputations.

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