The top 4 most shocking medical stories

This catalogue of medical oddities, miraculous recoveries, open questions and unsolved mysteries is so complex and fascinating, that millions of books and articles have been written about them.

While oddities are not particularly desirable, miracles make us happy and strengthen our faith. 

Unfortunately, many medical mysteries remain unsolved. They are similar to an intriguing puzzle, but with most of the pieces missing. They make us realize how much we still need to learn about something we thought we knew so well: the human body.

Here is the top 4 list of the most shocking medical stories that are both captivating and unbelievable!

Miraculous Recovery after Falling 47 Stories

The Moreno brothers, Alcides and Edgar, were working on a window-washing platform attached to a skyscraper in New York, when the platform collapsed. The 16-foot-long aluminium swing to the roof failed and sent Alcides and Edgar Moreno falling 47 stories, Edgar didn’t survive, but Alcides cheated death.

The doctors performed at least 16 surgeries, after Moreno broke his ribs, both legs and his right arm, plus he badly injured his spine. The medical staff described the victim’s recovery as “miraculous” and “unprecedented.” Doctors predicted that Moreno’s recovery would be complete in one to two years.

Teen Survives 118 Days Without a heart

D’zhana Simmons is literally a walking, talking medical miracle. The brave teenager lived for about four months without a heart, as she a waited a new, functional heart to replace the damaged one. 

Simmons suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), meaning her weak and enlarged heart wasn’t pumping blood efficiently. The surgeons performed an initial transplant, but the heart malfunctioned and had to be quickly removed. Meanwhile, D’zhana was kept alive by a custom-built artificial blood-pumping device.

Allergic to H2O

Whether it’s taking a hot bath, brushing your teeth, cleaning the house, or simply quenching your thirst, water is an essential part of our daily routine. We just cannot live without water! That is why it is a wonder to us that people can be allergic to water.

Alexandra Allen developed a one in 230 million skin disorder – Aquagenic Urticaria. If her skin comes in to contact with water, itchy red welts, lumps and blisters appear all over the body. Showering is a really painful experience for her. Alexandra cannot drink water, coffee or tea, she cannot even eat fruits because they trigger the burning rash on the skin and make her throat swell up, but her body seems to tolerate Diet Coke.

Giving Birth to a Mummy

Zahra Aboutalib delivered a child she’d been carrying for almost half a century. This shocking yet fascinating story began in 1955 when Zahra went into labour. She was rushed to a hospital, but after watching a woman dying on the operation table during a Caesarean section, Zahra fled back to her small village outside Casablanca. After the pains were gone and the baby stopped kicking, Zahra considered him a “sleeping baby”. “Sleeping babies” are, according to Moroccan folk belief, babies that can live inside a woman’s womb to protect her honour.

When Zahra was 75, the excruciating pains occurred again. Doctors performed an ultrasound test and discovered that her “sleeping child” was actually an ectopic pregnancy. What is even more amazing is how Zahra survived and how the dead foetus was accepted by the body just like another organ. 

Generally, this doesn’t happen. If not discovered in time, the growing foetus will eventually strain and burst the organ that contains it. Under these circumstances, the mother has few surviving chances. After nearly five hours, the surgeons successfully removed Zahra’s calcified foetus.

The world of medicine is full of tales of the bizarre from the rarest and mysterious diseases to the oddest medical anomalies. Every so often, doctors encounter a patient with a problem so unusual that tests the limits and mysteries of the human body.

For a wide range of quality, affordable medical equipment and supplies - contact Supply Doctor's online medical store and place your order today!