Episode 5 & 10 - Desperate Last-minute Idea | MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries

are you listening to free ads on Amazon Music in October 2004 a 15 year old girl suddenly woke up in the middle of the night in complete panic she didn't know where she was and it was so dark in the room she couldn't see anything and when she tried move she realized she couldn't, she was paralyzed, she tried to calm down and just listen for some sign of where she was or what was happening, but all she could hear were the unknown sounds of Machin beeped and worried, then horror sank in. in it she was locked inside her own body and she had no

idea

why since Ballin Studios and ironically I am Mr.

Ballin and this is Mr. Ballin's

medical

mysteries

where every week we will explore a new baffling mystery. originating from the only place we can't escape from our own bodies, if you like today's story, invite the follow button to a nighttime paranormal investigation in an abandoned hospital and, after entering, tell them you need to use the bathroom, but just proceed to get out and close all the doors This week's story is called Silent Scream On a Monday morning in October 2014, 15-year-old Gina Geesi rode the bus to school in Fond deac Wisconsin, a suburb about about an hour from Milwaukee, when the bus hit a pothole he felt his stomach lurch.

She had had a stomach ache all morning and she barely touched the toast her mother gave her for breakfast. Normally Gina would have taken any excuse to skip school on a Monday, but today was different, it was the start of her homecoming week. she at St Mary Springs High School and she had been waiting for him since the end of the summer holidays; It was also her first year on the varsity volleyball team, which was very important for a sophomore. Gina didn't want to miss practice for the big game against the Rival school that was taking place that Thursday when the bus pulled into the school parking lot.

Gina convinced herself that she would feel fine once she saw her friends and got to class, but the moment she got up from her seat she felt heavy. and slow it was like an invisible weight was trying to pull her across the floor it took all her energy just to get to English class she spent the rest of the day struggling to keep her eyes open until it was finally time to go home later That night while watching TV, Gina felt her arm starting to tingle and shook it, but the tingling wouldn't go away. Gina decided that she was probably just fighting a flu bug and that she just needed a good night's rest and she went to bed. and it wasn't long before she fell into a deep sleep, but when she woke up the next morning she didn't feel any better, in fact as the week went on Gina still wasn't getting any better, on Thursday she was still exhausted and sore, but today was the day of her big volleyball game and Gina wasn't going to miss it.

She crawled out of bed, but when she reached for her robe, her arm felt like it was made of lead, but she shook it off and took a deep breath and then headed to the bathroom a few hours later. Gina took her place on the volleyball court. She felt a little dizzy, but she held it down because of the pre-game nerves. The stands were full of fans singing and eager to cheer on her team for once. The game began, the opposing team served the ball over the net, one of Gina's teammates got under it throwing the ball towards Gina and setting her up for an easy play, all she had to do was shoot over the net. net, but as the ball approached His vision suddenly doubled.

She was watching two white volleyballs sailing towards her face. Gina blinked not knowing which one to hit, she jumped punching the air and her palm made contact with the hard vinyl ball and immediately a jolt of pain shot through her. arm but she didn't care because she had done her job and returned the ball the other team lunged at him and missed when the ball hit the ground the stands exploded Gina had scored she smiled and blinked a couple of times a moment later her double His vision had cleared and he breathed a sigh of relief because he was on a roll for the rest of the game.

After the game, Gina went out with her teammates for a celebratory ice cream cone. When she got home, she had completely forgotten about her double vision. At the beginning of the game, her arm was a little stiff from hitting so many balls, but she felt better the next morning. Gina slept through the alarm and woke up late. She tried to get up, but her whole body was so sore and stiff that her forehead was hot. but her teeth were chattering and she was thirsty. She

desperate

ly needed a glass of water. Gina swung her legs over the side of the bed, then staggered forward to get up and almost fell on her side, it wasn't that her body felt limp, it was like her joints were so stiff that she couldn't move them and she couldn't walk.

She felt like a mechanical doll whose battery had run out. Gina fell back onto the bed and called her father Jon for help. Jon ran up the stairs and came to help his daughter. Off the bed, Gina put her arm around his shoulder and he pulled her to her feet, then JN walked her down the hall to the bathroom, though he tried to look calm. Gina could see the fear in her father's eyes and tried to thank him for helping but it was like talking to a bite of peanut butter. Her brain knew the words but her tongue just couldn't keep up.

That's when her dad yelled at her. her mom and told her to call Gina's pediatrician right away and she got an appointment and helped Jon put Gina's jacket on and then they guided her to the car. Gina could barely put one foot in front of the other, but on the way to the doctor something even scarier happened to Gina, her left arm began to shake uncontrollably. and then her mother took Gina's other hand looking totally scared and afraid, Gina's mind was so confused that she could barely process what was happening less than an hour later, Gina was in her pediatrician's office, the doctor made her blood tests, a CT scan, and an MRI Once everything was done, they sent her to an exam room to wait for the results.

Gina shuddered as she sat on the thin paper spread on the doctor's examination table, her arms still shaking uncontrollably and her dry mouth filling with saliva. She had been drinking water but nothing could quench her thirst. Finally someone called the door and Gina's doctor entered the room. She had a calm demeanor, but Gina could see in her eyes that something was clearly wrong. She told Gina and her parents that there was clearly something going on that made Gina seriously ill, but he just didn't know what she was, but Gina's blood test came back fine. The neurologist couldn't find anything on her CT scans.

Gina didn't understand what it all meant, but she was. Frightened, she could feel drool dripping down the side of her mouth, but she couldn't muster enough energy to stop it. The doctor handed Anne a tissue and Gina felt her mother's hand gently wipe it away. The doctor said Gina needed to see a specialist. at a larger hospital in Milwaukee, 70 miles away and had to arrive quickly

minute

s later, Gina was loaded into the back of an ambulance, her parents held her hand and promised they would follow her on the trip to hospital. Gina felt dizzy. so she leaned her head against the stretcher she was tied to and closed her eyes.

She hoped the next Doctor would have an answer and she would feel better soon despite the blaring siren. Gina could barely keep her eyes open and she quickly fell asleep, the next thing Gina remembered was waking up in a completely white hospital room with fluorescent lights that hurt her eyes. A nurse came in to check Gina's blood pressure and asked if she could stand up. Gina slid off the hospital bed and for a moment she stood completely still and then her body began to shake violently. The nurse caught her before she fell to the floor and helped her into a wheelchair.

When Gina sat up, her vision became blurry again, it was as if she was looking at the nurse through a sheet. Waxed paper, but even so she Gina could make out the nurse's sympathetic expression. The nurse told Gina not to worry. Neurologists would have their test results soon. Dr. Rodney Willoughby was in her office when Gina's test results came in, a few

minute

s later he read and re-read the results. A dozen times he was the lead doctor on Gina's case and he needed to be absolutely sure of what he was seeing. He had been a doctor for over 20 years, but this was the first time he had encountered a case like this and now he was about to deliver the most tragic diagnosis of his career with a heavy heart, he left his office and walked into the small room where Gina's parents were waiting and John stood to greet him looking hopeful.

Dr. Willoughby sighed and broke the news that Gina had contracted a rapid illness. deadly moving disease that killed almost 60,000 people each year and while there was a vaccine, Gina was already too advanced for it to work, no one in recorded history had survived once this disease progressed that far. Dr. Willoughby told Gina's parents that over the next 24 to 48 hours Gina's organs would fail and her heart would stop at this point the only thing they could do was keep her comfortable until she died judging by the blank expressions. from Jon and Dr. Willoughby could see that his horrible words had not yet sunk in.

Anne collapsed on top of her husband sobbing. JN begged Dr. Willoughby for a solution. There had to be something they could do, but Dr. Willoughby just shook his head. There was no way to beat this disease. He stood with Gina's parents while they cried and then gave them privacy to sit with her children. At this point, her daughter Gina was drifting in and out of Consciousness. Dr. Willoughby realized that he was not coherent enough to understand what was happening to him. It was heartbreaking to know that there was nothing he could do to help her, but throughout the afternoon Dr.

Willoughby was there for her. Finding it increasingly difficult to accept Gina's fate, he called the CDC before leaving the office. He knew the chances were slim, but he wanted to know if there was any new or promising research that could save Gina's life. They said no, but Dr. Willoughby didn't. satisfied, so he decided to do some research on his own later that night, going through a stack of

medical

studies and publishing research for hours, flipping through page after page of the same grim findings, drinking coffee to stay awake, finally, sometime later midnight, an autopsy. The report caught their attention up to that point, most of the medical community assumed that Gina's illness caused organ failure by eating away at the brain, but this report suggested that wasn't actually true: the pathogens left the brain completely intact, instead Of that, the virus kills by altering the functioning of the brain. ability to regulate necessary bodily functions such as breathing and heart rate, that is what causes the body to shut down and die, but not damaging the brain itself.

Dr. Willoughby was even more fascinated by what he read next, the autopsy showed that just before each of these victims died their immune systems actually began to fight back which meant the disease was beatable it simply caused organ failure. too quickly for the immune system to react Dr. Willoughby wondered if there was a way to temporarily stop Gina's brain activity without killing her if this could make her brain protected from the deadly viral attack. Pathogens would be prevented from causing her brain to malfunction and destroying her body. This would give her immune system time to produce antibodies and fight the virus.

That's when it occurred to Dr. Willoughby. a radical

idea

was Gina's only hope Anne, Gina's mother, was filled with dread when she and her husband entered Dr. Willoughby's office the next morning. She was expecting a discussion about how to prepare for Gina's death, but when they sat in front of the pediatrician. At first, Anne began to feel some hope, but as the doctor went over the details of her plan, she felt as if she had fallen back into a nightmare after the doctor finished explaining. his radical plan and just stared at it in disbelief, the doctor wanted to put Gina into a medically induced deep coma to bring her within an inch of death to the point where her brain was completely silent, she would have no thoughts or signals for the rest .

From her body, Gina would be kept alive by machines, she would need to remain in a coma for at least 10 days, hopefully long enough to fight off whatever was attacking her body. Dr. Willoughby admitted that they would be playing with Gina's life,something no one had ever tried. Ed, something like this before, if it didn't work, Gina would surely die and even if the doctor's plan worked and Gina's body managed to fight off the disease, there was no guarantee that she would even wake up from the medically induced coma that her brain might never have. she could regain her proper functions and would be left in a vegetative state depending on machines to keep her alive for the rest of her life.

The thought of that sent a shiver down Anne's spine, but if they wanted to save their daughter's life, this was their only option. Anne looked at John and he nodded and so, with all the courage she could muster, Anne gave him approval for Dr. Willoughby on October 10. Dr. Willoughby and a surgical team gathered in the operating room. Gina was brought in and the anesthesiologist gave her medications. to induce a medical coma, the coma would help regulate her routine brainstem functions such as breathing and circulation, after completing the procedure, Gina was taken back to the ICU. Dr.

Willoughby barely left the hospital over the next few days as he paced around Gina's room. and he heard the constant sounds of the machines that had taken over the functions of her body, he saw her parents praying next to her bed. Dr. Willoughby also prayed silently for Gina. 10 days passed, the wait was unbearable. Dr. Willoughby spent every moment anxiously waiting for this treatment to work. and Gina's parents spent every possible second at their daughter's bedside, it was finally time to bring her out of the coma and see if her body had been able to fight off this illness.

Throughout the day, Dr. Willby reduced the amount of medications that kept Gina asleep. If everything had worked, she would soon be able to wake up on her own, but as the hours passed and the monitor tracking her brain activity remained a flat line, this was a bad sign if the monitor didn't start showing something soon. Gina might never. woke up when Dr. Willoughby arrived at work early the next morning, he ran to Gina's room and checked her brain activity monitor again, the screen showing a flat line with the slightest flashes. of movement in it, which meant Gina's brain was working.

Dr. Willoughby breathed a sigh of relief, he couldn't believe that his plan could actually work, but Gina still hadn't woken up from her coma when An and John arrived at the hospital later. In the morning, Dr. Willoughby took them to Gina's bed, placed a right over Gina's face, and then opened Gina's eyes with a speculum, which is a tool that ophthalmologists often use to prevent patients from blinking. . Dr. Willoughby watched as Gina's pupils filled with light and turned into larger saucers. Gina was awake. Dr. Willoughby could see her eyes moving from right to left looking around the room and finally her eyes landed on her mother's face.

Gina's pupils widened in recognition and Dr. Willoughby knew that he had recognized her mother. Anne noticed. She also gave Dr. Willoughby a grateful smile, her eyes filled with tears and Dr. Willoughby breathed a huge sigh of relief. He pulled out her reflex hammer and hit Gina's knee, but to her surprise, she didn't flinch. He tried again, but still there was nothing. Reaction Dr. Willoughby's stomach churned even if Gina was still groggy, his body should have had a natural reflex, he tried to keep a neutral expression, but he knew John could tell something was wrong, he didn't know how to tell them that Gina I was awake. but physically she was paralyzed, she was literally locked inside her body.

The condition is actually called being locked in and is a rare disorder of the nervous system. People with locked-in syndrome are paralyzed except for the muscles that control eye movement. They are conscious. and they can think and reason, they can hear and see, but they can't move or talk, and they can't chew or swallow or breathe on their own and there was nothing Dr. Willoughby could do to help Gina. His only hope was to wait and see if everything changed that night while he was driving home. Dr. Willoughby prayed to God for forgiveness. He felt that he had sentenced Gina to a fate worse than death.

She could spend the next 60 years imprisoned in her own body, able to think, reason and feel, but. She never moved, she could imagine how terrifying it would be for Gina to be going through this after almost dying from a deadly illness when Dr. Willoughby returned to the hospital the next day. Nothing had changed. Gina's eyes scanned the room, but her body remained motionless on the floor. The hospital bed and the next day were exactly the same as the third morning after Gina woke up. Dr. Willoughby arrived at the hospital full of fear. He first stopped at Gina's room and grabbed her chart from her holder on the door and then walked towards Gina's room.

He stood next to the bed and took the reflex hammer from her breast pocket. Holding her breath, he gently tapped her on the knee. Gina shuddered a short time later, Anne and John arrived at Gina's room and Dr. Willoughby excitedly asked them to watch her while he slammed Gina's knee back into her muscles. he contracted and Gina's parents were wide-eyed after 2 weeks of surviving with Slim threads of hope, this time they began to cry with joy. 3 months later, Gina took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She was back in her room, even though she had left the hospital a week ago, she was still worried about waking up in that horrible bright white hospital room hooked up to machines unable to move.

Coming out of the coma, he had felt like he was underwater, he could hear the muffled voices of people he knew and saw the blurred outlines of their faces, but it wasn't until Dr. Willoughby opened his eyes that he finally came out. the surface. It had taken days for the feeling of it to return to her body. First she could flutter her eyelids and then she could. Finally, she could feel her mother holding her hand, but even as the world began to come into focus, she Gina simply couldn't move very well on her own and, although she understood what others were telling her, she didn't. could speak.

In the past, her parents and the hospital nurses had to do everything for her, like bathing and feeding her, and she would spend 2 months relearning how to walk and say basic words, but Gina was very grateful to be alive and during her time in the hospital. hospital. The hospital was totally blurry. She remembered every detail of how she had started her deadly illness a month before her symptoms appeared. Gina and her family had gone to Sunday Mass together at St. Patrick's Catholic Church a few minutes after the service began. Gina looked up and saw something. Small and black flying around the roof, it was a little bird that tried to get out but did not move towards any of the open windows, but instead swooped down towards the pews a little further down whenever the majority of the congregation was totally upset. and they kept hitting it with their hats when it flew down, then the bird brushed against an usher who managed to knock it out of the air with a collection basket and it fell to the ground and looked stunned.

Gina was an animal lover and she felt bad for the little bird, so she got up from her seat and ran to the back of the church and picked it up, but when Gina was carrying this little bird in her hands, she looked closer and He realized that it was not a bird, it was a bat. her outside the church she opened her hands to Let It Go, oh, but the bat bit her finger hard. Gina almost screamed, but she knew there were little children watching her from inside the church and she didn't want to scare them, so she bit her lip and she pushed her hand away from the bat and sent it flying across the church lawn. church.

Gina watched as the bat flew away from her and then cradled her finger. A small pinprick of blood bubbled up where the bat had broken her skin. Gina washed her hands in the bathroom and then snuck back into the church pew next to her parents, smiling as the parishioners looked at her and gave her big looks. Gina told her parents that the bird was actually a bat, but it never occurred to Gina or her family that by the time the bat's tiny fangs pierced Gina's skin, a deadly pathogen had attached itself to one. of the nerves in Gina's fingertip and over the next month that pathogen replicated and grew, crawling up Gina's arm and taking root in her brain, causing flu-like symptoms, her vision was blurry and she shook. . and Sal uncontrollably and were eventually taken into Dr.

Willoughby's care, but by then it was too late because Gina now had rabies. Rabies is an acute viral infection that is transmitted to humans by a bite or by exposure of broken skin to the skin of an infected animal. Saliva The most common wild animals that can transmit rabies to people are raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes. Domestic mammals can also get rabies if they are not vaccinated, such as cats, dogs, and livestock. Rabies can be cured with a vaccine, but it must be given within 24 to 72 days. hours after exposure, if untreated, rabies is fatal, the virus causes significant and progressive damage to the brain and spinal cord and by the time it reaches the brain it is almost always too late to prevent death, victims die painful deaths and experience delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations and insomnia, but thanks to Dr.

Willoughby's radical idea, Gina Geese became the first person to survive a case of rabies without a vaccine. Since then, other doctors have used the technique pioneered by Dr. Willoughby to treat patients with rabies when they are not eligible to receive the vaccine. It doesn't always work, but sometimes the patient comes out ahead. It is now known as the Milwaukee protocol. It took Gina 2 years to restore her language and motor skills, but she finished high school on time with the rest of her class and then after graduating, she enrolled at Lakeland College to study biology because she wants to work with animals in one of their classes.

Gina studied bats and over time her fear of them disappeared now she absolutely loves them. On the morning of Thursday, April 29, 1993, the sun rose over the low-water high desert of New Mexico, the air was crisp and the sky was pink when FL Ina Woody, 21, went for a run with her long-term boyfriend. 19 years. Merill Bay Florina and Merill were Navajo and lived in a small rural town on the vast Navajo reservation that stretches across three southwestern states. Florina loved the majestic landscape that surrounded the city and she spent as much time as she could outdoors and she was especially happy to be outside again after a long wet winter.

She and Merill ran along the country road. small houses and mobile homes set back from the road in the distance Florina admired the high cliffs of Red Rock glistening in the sun the couple turned off the road and headed up a trail toward a flat-topped hill called Mesa usually the top was dry and dusty but the wet winter had made it lush, green and dotted with wildflowers. Once they reached the top, they stopped to look at the city below. Florina could barely make out the mobile home she and Merill shared with her parents. She sometimes felt crowded. she was there together, but she was grateful for their close-knit family, especially since she and Merill were raising her first child, now a six-month-old son.

Florina and Merill ran back to Mesa and kept a steady pace all the way home. Merill had recently returned. She began competing in local races and was always trying to strengthen her stamina, as Florina also had reasons to challenge herself. She had originally started running to compensate for her asthma, which she had improved lately once they got home. Florina went and entered her trailer. She took a shower and then went to relax on the couch, but when she sat down she noticed that her neck and back muscles hurt more than usual. She asked Merill for a massage, but afterward her muscles still hurt.

Florina wondered if she had gotten something out of her during her run, so she tried to take it easy for the rest of the day over the weekend and over the next week Florina's aches and pains did not improve. She also developed a cost that felt different from her usual asthma on Friday, just over a week after she first felt sick, Florina realized that her symptoms weren't going away with rest, so Merill gave her a test. doctor's appointment for the next day, Saturday, May 8, while Merill observed the baby. Florina's parents took her to Crownpoint Healthcare Center, which was about an hour and a half away.

The middle south and east of her city was a journey that Florina knew well since she had given birth there. Crownpoint was a small rural hospital operated by the Indian Health Service with about 10 doctors, two of the doctors were a married couplenamed Christine Goldick and Thomas. Hennessy, who had helped deliver Florina's baby, Florina's parents parked near her entrance and walked with her to the lobby immediately. Florina saw the familiar face of Dr. Gulick smiling at her. Florina smiled back and waved. After checking in, she followed Dr. Gick to an examination room on her return. Dr. Goldick placed a stethoscope on Florina's chest and listened, then put her fingers on Florina's wrist and measured her pulse. her.

Florina watched Dr. Gni's face for a reaction, but his expression remained neutral. The doctor understood why Florina was worried since her symptoms had persisted for so long. long, but fortunately her vital signs had returned to normal, so the doctor suspected it was just a bad case of the flu, but considering Florina's history of asthma and her persistent symptoms, Dr. Gulnick didn't want to take any chances. and suggested that Florina spend the night. at the hospital in the morning Dr. Gold Nick's husband, Dr. Hennessy, might come to give a second opinion. Florina resisted at first, since the next day was Mother's Day.

She said she wanted to get home and spend it with Merill and her baby, but Dr. Goldick promised Florina that she could leave once Dr. Hennessy ruined her the next day, so Florina agreed to stay. . She knew it was better to play it safe, especially since she lived so far from the hospital that she told her parents they could go home for the night and then she called Merill he told her he loved her and promised her he would come get her. first thing in the morning once he was discharged. The next morning, Florina woke up when someone knocked on the door, it was Dr.

Hennessy and Florina was glad to see him because she was now feeling worse and she was struggling to catch her breath. Dr. Hennessy listened to her lungs with a stethoscope and frowned. He told Florina that he wanted to take a chest x-ray to get a better look at her lungs, unfortunately that meant Florina would have to stay in the hospital a little longer. Florina was disappointed but also relieved that Dr. Hennessy seemed to be treating her symptoms so seriously, Whatever was happening to him, he felt much worse than the usual breathing problems he experienced due to his asthma and was starting to get scared.

A few minutes later a technician brought in a mobile x-ray unit and scanned his upper body. Florina while waiting for the results a nurse brought Florina a phone so she could call Merill and when Merill answered she told Florina that her baby was taking a nap and they were just celebrating Mother's Day, when she came home that night, Hearing Merl's voice calmed her, but Florina still felt helpless and alone. This was not how she imagined her first Mother's Day would be, just over an hour later, the X-ray technician brought Florina in. The test results to Dr.

Hennessy and the image showed Florina's lungs completely white, which meant they were filled with fluid. Dr. Hennessy was shocked by what he saw and ran to Florina's room. He found her lying there with her eyes half closed and her mouth surrounded by a dried white liquid as she

desperate

ly struggled to breathe. Dr. Hennessy couldn't believe that such a young, athletic patient going from a healthy state to near respiratory failure in 24 hours was unheard of. The doctor immediately called a helicopter to take Florina to the University of New Mexico hospital in Albuquerque, which had a much better equipped Intensive Care Unit, but until the helicopter arrived, Dr.

Hennessy had to try. He did his best to stabilize her condition, giving Florina a mass of oxygen to pump air into her lungs, but after a few moments she coughed up a pink, bloody foam. Dr. Hennessy's face turned ashen as he realized what was happening. Florina's lungs were so congested that her extra oxygen was being depleted. He was doing nothing and there was another urgent problem Florina's blood pressure was dropping rapidly Dr. Hennessy shouted for a nurse to give Florina intravenous fluids and when the medication entered Florina's body Dr. Hennessy's eyes went to Florina. The monitors tracking his vital signs were still extremely weak.

The body simply was not receiving enough oxygen and her organs were beginning to fail. Getting Florina to breathe now was a matter of life and death. The doctor quickly put on a new pair of gloves, grabbed a scalpel from an operating tray and then took a deep breath to stabilize himself and then, when Dr. Hennessy was ready, he carefully cut an incision in Florina's throat and inserted a short tube directly into Florina's airways. He heard Florina's heart rate monitor beep rapidly for a few moments and then deflate. Florina had gone into cardiac arrest. Dr. Hennessy knew he only had a few seconds left to save her life.

CPR began as the nurse grabbed the defibrillator once it was charged, the doctor grabbed the paddles and pressed them against Florina's chest and then the machine released a bolt of electricity into her body. Florina's heart rate monitor remained flat, so which Dr. Hennessy recharged the defibrillator and sent another shock through Florina's body. At this moment, a nurse ran in and told the doctor that the helicopter had just arrived, but at this moment Dr. Hennessy just shook his head, it was too much. The late Florina died later that morning. Florina's fiancé, Merill, was at home sitting next to the baby's crib when her phone rang.

He recognized the voice on the other end of the line as that of one of the doctors at Crownpoint Hospital, but he couldn't gauge the words he was hearing. something had gone terribly wrong, Florina had died and no one really knew why the doctors were running tests, but they had never seen anything like it before Merill fell to the ground as he kissed Florina goodbye. Less than 24 hours ago, she had been a little depressed. the weather but it didn't seem serious she didn't understand how this could have happened Merill took a moment to compose herself then walked towards the kitchen where Florina's parents were having their morning coffee she tried to tell them what had happened but the words got stuck in his throat, then he simply closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh, and blurted out: Florina is dead.

Florina's parents stared at him blankly. Her mother asked her what she was talking about. Tears began to well up in Meril's eyes as he explained. The doctors had just told him that Florina was really dead. It had happened extremely quickly and the doctors could do nothing to save her. This time they understood and Florina's parents began to sob. How could a 21-year-old mother in perfect health suddenly? died that night Merill barely slept and the next day he woke up in a fog the food didn't taste like anything he fed and changed the baby but it felt mechanical everything reminded him of Florina on Tuesday May 11th so 2 days after Florina's death Merill woke up feeling weak and sluggish.

He felt like it was more than just the physical effects of his pain and he was worried after what had happened to his wife. The doctors still didn't know what killed Florina and Merill didn't want to take any chances. that I would have done it. He had a lot to do for Florina's funeral and he didn't want to drive to Crownpoint Hospital, so he decided to go to the local health clinic. Merill told the doctor what had happened to Florina and that he was now feeling sick. The doctor agreed that Merill was right to be cautious, but said that Merl's situation was different from that of his wife. .

Florina had asthma and that probably contributed to her rapid deterioration. The doctor told Merill to rest and sent him home with prescription pain medication. an antibiotic and an antiviral medication. Merill took these medications for the next few days, but none of them seemed to work. He felt more exhausted every day and even worse on Friday, May 14, which was the day of Florina's funeral. Florina's cousin picked up Merill at the hospital. The family towed that morning and then set off south 70m to Sunset Memorial Park in Gallup, New Mexico, where they were going to bury Florina, but they hadn't been in the car for long before Merill started panting. by air, now this was before people carried cell phones, so Merl's cousin had to pull off the road at a general store to call 911 on a landline and as he did, Merill got out He stumbled out of the car and staggered across the parking lot in a panic as his lips and nails began to turn blue and then he simply collapsed.

The paramedics arrived on the scene quickly and took Merill to the Gallup Indian Medical Center and once they arrived, the The nurse's wheel healed his stretcher in the emergency room, but by the time he was inside, Merill had stopped breathing, the doctor on duty, Dr. Bruce Tempest. He tried to revive him, but it was useless. Upon arrival that same day, he declared Merill dead. Dr. Tempest sat slumped in a chair, feeling defeated. He had worked at the Gallup Indian Medical Center for 23 years and was widely considered an expert in inter-medicine. He had even been awarded the Indian Health Service's Physician of the Year Award in 1983, but had felt helpless after failing to save Merl's life when Dr.

Tempest signed and dated the paperwork regarding Merl's time of death. , an attendee mentioned that the man's fiancé had also died just a week earlier and Like Merill, she had been in good shape and just declined very quickly. Dr. Tempest felt a wave of fear rise in his chest. Two physically fit young men did not suddenly die of respiratory failure, one after another, something had to make them sick while he thought about Meril's death. Dr. Tempest realized that he had seen other similar cases in the

last

6 months. He had treated three other young Navajo men with fatal respiratory problems.

He couldn't help but wonder if maybe all of these deaths were related to what had killed Florina and Merill. He could have killed the others too. The fact that all of the dead were Navajos living within the same general area led the doctor to suspect that this disease might be contagious and, if he had to guess, it seemed to be spread through the air since the lungs were the most common organ. affected in all cases, if he was right, this could be the beginning of an incredibly dangerous outbreak, but before jumping to conclusions he needed to gather more information.

Dr. Tempest called Crownpoint Medical Center, where Florina had been treated before she died, he explained. He had treated his boyfriend and wanted to know what happened to Florina. Doctors at Crownpoint didn't hesitate to share a detailed breakdown of his illness after Dr. Tempest hung up and compared both cases. Florina sounded exactly like what happened to Merill. It doesn't make sense to Dr. Tempest, he had never heard of any disease that behaved like this. Furthermore, during this call, the doctor had learned something else that completely baffled him. Merill and Florina's 6-month-old son had not gotten sick at all if it was a contagious disease. airborne disease, the baby would have probably caught it from one of her parents and why hadn't the grandparents gotten sick?

There was one more thing that was bothering Dr. Tempest so far, mild cases of this illness had not been reported every day. person who got sick died this disease was like nothing he had seen before if it continued to spread many more people could die that weekend Dr. Tempest gathered all the information he could about Florina and Merl's cases and then 3 days After declaring Merill dead, Dr. Tempest called the State Department of Health and was told they had a problem 11 days later. Dr. Jeffrey Duchen was finishing his work at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, where he investigated dangerous disease outbreaks.

He was still training at the CDC and the work was demanding. Now he was looking forward to spending the long Memorial Day weekend with his family, but as he was getting ready to leave, there was a knock on his door, it was Dr. Duin's boss and he had a job. critical for him. Something worrying was happening among the Navajos. On the reservation, healthy young people were dying and no one knew why six people had already died from this mysterious disease and another four had been hospitalized. The CDC was sending out a team early tomorrow morning and his boss wanted Dr.

Duchen to be part of it. Duchen immediately changed the subject and began putting documents into his briefcase. It didn't matter that he had plans with his family. This was urgent that night. Dr. Duchen met with the team that was being sent to the Navajo reservation to review his plan after the meeting was over. When he finished, heA doctor's bag was handed over and he opened it to look at the equipment along with the usual tools of his trade. He was surprised to find something completely unexpected, a gas mask. Dr. Duchen knew that it was too early for him to know what they were facing.

But the signs were not good. The next day, Dr. Duchen and two other CDC colleagues landed in New Mexico and headed straight to an emergency conference of more than 30 Public Health officials. Huge whiteboards lined every wall of the conference room with the scribbled names of possible germs and toxins, from herpes to heavy metals, pesticides and pests, the mood was frenetic. Dr. Dutchen was overwhelmed by all the theories and potential diseases proposed. Each theory was discussed and analyzed. The more possibilities they ruled out, the more worrying Duchin felt it meant. The cause of death was either something so rare that there were very few experts on it or it was something completely new and the longer it took for researchers to find answers, the more people could die.

In fact, on the same day the conference began, a Navajo teenage girl apparently healthy. she had passed out at a school dance in a state park. She died a few hours later. Her death was a stark reminder that the clock was ticking. The assembled scientists couldn't accomplish much by staring at whiteboards in a conference room. They needed more data. Dr. Duchen and his colleagues decided to survey some local residents and collect blood samples from anyone willing to participate. Two days after the CDC team arrived, Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah looked around. window of their office in Window Rock, Arizona, all four of them.

The corners of the area where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet, and where Navajo life had become a media circus, news vans were crammed into every available parking space below. Z's phone was ringing non-stop with calls from journalists, health officials and locals asking. For information about this mysterious disease, Zah had nothing to say to any of them, but he hoped that would change soon. The Navajo leader was not participating in the large CDC conference, although he was aware of its progress. He barely slept over the weekend because he was anxiously awaiting some update, but from what he had seen so far he thought the CDC investigation and the media attention it attracted hadn't been much help.

The people of Z were terrified and the outsiders. The ignorance of the Navajo Customs added to his panic. Newspapers were printing the names of the deceased immediately, although Navajo tradition prohibited their names from being spoken or written for 4 days after their death, this was causing much pain and confusion for the Navajo people, they believed this would prevent the spirit of the dead made the appropriate transition. to the afterlife and aggravating the already delicate situation, some scientists went directly to people's houses and knocked on the door. They had no idea that Navajo custom required them to wait 30 feet away until they were invited inside.

These cultural misunderstandings had led to an escalation of tension. on the reservation and zah was worried about what might happen next just then the phone rang again. She was a Navajo woman on the reservation who claimed that some medical researchers were harassing her family. Zah assured him that he would be there to handle the situation. Zah hung up. Then she walked out, pushing her way through the crowd of reporters waiting outside her office while shouting questions at her. He promised that he would share any new information with them as soon as he had it, then he got into his truck and headed to the address the woman on the phone had given him a few minutes later, Zah stopped before a group of low-rise peblo buildings that They marked the direction.

The sun was high barely casting shadows on the dusty ground. Zah saw a small crowd shouting at two men standing there. Off to the side, both men looked nervous and confused. Zah assumed it was the scientists. The woman had called him about the situation. He seemed heated and she felt like he was about to get out of control. Zah got out of his truck and recognized the woman. who called him and when she saw him she ran to him and explained what was happening. The two scientists had knocked on his door asking if his family would be willing to donate blood for the tests.

Zah shook his head in disgust now he understood why. The crowd was so upset that he pushed his way through them and walked towards the two scientists. Everyone fell silent as Zah introduced himself and explained that the researchers had deeply violated Navajo custom. The scientist's unannounced arrival at the woman's house was considered an invasion by the Navajo people. But even more offensive was her request for a blood sample. The Navajo believe that blood is spiritually linked to the body and giving a blood sample is considered a serious violation of privacy. The scientists' ignorance of this cultural belief was an insult to this woman.

The scientists' faces turned red and they apologized profusely. They said they were there on official business investigating the outbreak and they didn't mean to offend anyone. Zah warned them to be more careful. He wanted to stop this outbreak as much as they did but if scientists couldn't get people to trust them then they certainly would never know what caused this disease. The scientists apologized again and packed up to leave. Zah calmed the crowd and told the woman to call if any other strange people showed up. Sensing there was more trouble returning to his office later that day, Zah read the latest news about the outbreak with growing dismay.

Not only were the Navajo people facing problems on the reservation, people in the broader area were beginning to avoid them. Due to fear of the disease, there were several articles about Navajo families being banned from local restaurants and businesses. There was even a report about 27 third grade Navajo students from Chinley, Arizona, who were denied a field trip to visit pen pals at another school in California and worse people were still dying the death toll was now at 10 and many more were very sick Z's eyes fell on a particular article about the outbreak in the Washington Post one particular sentence in the opening paragraph immediately caught his attention it said to quote that the Navajos blew him up He slammed the newspaper on his desk and He rubbed his temples.

This had gone too far. He called his assistant and told her to schedule a leadership council meeting immediately for the next day. Dr. Ben Muna, a physician with the Indian Health Services in New Mexico, received a call from Z. His assistant invited him to a meeting that night in Window Rock, Arizona, about the outbreak. Dr. Muna understood why they were asking him to go. His grandfather had been a famous healer in the tribe where he had inspired Dr. Man to become a Stanford-trained doctor with unique experience. knowledge of both modern science and traditional Navajo medicine. Dr.

Man had been at the CDC conference and could be a bridge between his research and the Navajo people. He told the assistant that he would be there while he drove to Window Rock. Dr. Muna passed a pinned sign. to a phone survey that said quote no media No newspapers TV radio Etc. this means you end the quote, he noticed that the locals were clearly fed up with the negative attention his thoughts directed at his colleague at the CDC Jeffrey Duchen Dr. Duchen and the other scientists were doing their best to solve this mystery, but they needed help from the Navajos.

He hoped that this meeting he was going to have with President Zah would be the beginning. A few minutes later, Dr. Man arrived at Z's office and was ushered into a short conference. Dr. Mana realized that this would be nothing like the giant CDC conference, but rather an intentionally small meeting that completely excluded federal researchers. Zah did not want Navajo business interfered with. Aside from Zah, there were some high-ranking Navajo healers in attendance. The only other doctor in the room was the state's Deputy Commissioner of Health. Once everyone was seated, President Zah asked Dr. Man to update them on how the event was going. research so far.

Dr. Man admitted that the CDC hadn't found much yet, but they were testing blood samples given freely for all kinds of diseases and looking at all the possibilities. Dr. Man then turned to the healer and asked for his prayers. The senior healer appreciated Dr. Mana's request, but instead of prayers, he offered his own interjection. Due to the mysterious outbreak of the disease, he believed that too many Navajo youth were abandoning traditional practices such as speaking the language and living off the land, were neglecting ceremonies meant to heal the sick, bring good fortune, and celebrate life's milestones, one of the most important.

One of these is called The Way of Blessing, which is performed for newborns, brides and grooms, and people who are sick or have experienced a traumatic event without these Traditions to keep the world in balance. Death was short. Dr. Man could feel what the healer was holding. something in return, however, it would be inappropriate for him to pressure his Elder for more information according to Navajo custom. If Dr. man wanted more knowledge, he had to participate in a ceremony that

last

ed several days, no matter how much Dr. man wanted to adhere to the tradition he knew.

There was no time to waste, he composed himself, then stood up straight and looked at the older healer with a calm but very firm voice. Dr. man asked if the healer could tell him more for a long moment, the healer just stared at him. Dr. Man felt a knot growing in the pit of his stomach, he knew how upset the Navajos already were because the researchers were violating their customs and now Dr. Man, who knew better, had done it too, finally the medicine man spoke and He acknowledged that Dr. Man's behavior was irregular but considering the seriousness of the situation he agreed to say more and immediately Dr.

Man let out a sigh of relief according to the Elder this was not the first time that a deadly disease like this had affected To the Navajo there had been two other bouts of mysterious deaths from respiratory failure in their community, one was in 1918 and the other in 1933. It was a long time ago, but stories were still told among the Navajos about those who had died. Dr. man asked if there had been anything similar in the years in question, the healer nodded. Both had been unusually wet winters with lots of rain, like this recent one, he then described how the water changed the land and these changes, in turn, brought a creature that brought death.

Dr. Mona knew what the healer was referring to. The creature was a real animal that was a prominent figure in Navajo mythology. The Navajo called him naat un and believed he was equally capable of spreading life or death in Navajo legend. If Nat un walked into a house and saw people wasting, then he would choose the strongest Navajo. young to die Muna thought about what the healer revealed to him the doctor did not think that this animal was literally judging the Navajos and killing them and in real life he had never heard of it spreading a disease like this through contact with humans, but as he considered the possibility he came up with a theory that explained how it could happen and, if he was right, would completely explain this deadly outbreak.

Dr. Manita ran back home and called his CDC colleague Jeffrey Duchen, who had led the emergency conference. The previous week, Duin had been relieved to learn that the disease was not entirely new, but was confused when Dr. Mana explained that the outbreak was related to the rain this land had experienced during all kinds of weather throughout. weather. The rain was not unusual, but this illness was Dr. Mana told him that it was not the rain itself, it was the animal from the Navajo legends that arose as a result of the rain and that if they wanted to solve this mystery then they would need to find as many creatures as possible. as possible, Dr.

Manita. He could sense Dr. Duut and doubt, but so far nothing else had worked, and as strange as this theory about mythical creatures was, it was the most promising lead they had, so Dr. Duchen told Dr. Man said he would assemble a team immediately and this time he would make sure the investigators respected Navajo cultural practices. 3 days later, Dr. Duchen left his hotel a few miles south of the Navajo reservation. He had organized this investigation with the help of President Zah and it would be carried out with the help. and the guidance of healers and other Navajo representatives.

Dr. Duchen scanned the parking lot and saw four men gathered around a pair of beat-up trucks. Dr. Duchen smiled and walked towards them. They were the CDC experts sent to catchHe told her about another car that pulled up next to them and a burly Navajo man got out. He was an environmental health expert sent by the president to help with the investigation. He patted Dr. Duchen on the back and promised that he would help them find what they were up to. As he sought out Dr. Duchen he felt a surge of hope thanks to the Navajos.

He believed they knew what made people sick. Now they could track down that creature that was spreading disease around the area, and hopefully they could figure out how to treat it. the disease before it killed anyone else, they all piled into a truck and headed to the Navajo reservation the next day. Dr. Duchen was in the middle of the desert. He was dressed in full biohazard gear, a silver suit, a watertight helmet, and heavy boots and gloves. He looked the other way. the desert landscape to the other members of his team they were all dressed in the same protective equipment to outside observers they all might have looked like astronauts from a movie set but the work they were doing was very real and if they weren't careful it could be very dangerous Dr.

Duchen was standing on top of a trap he had set the day before before checking it he made sure the wind was blowing away from him to avoid inhaling harmful particles if he caught an infected animal he could be at serious risk. for contracting this disease, once Dr. Dutchen was sure he was safe, he cautiously leaned down and examined the trap through the thick material of his helmet. He could hear a faint sound coming from inside, the sounds of a trapped animal. He looked at his colleagues. They were also examining his traps, Dr. Duchen hoped that at least one of them would have caught what they were looking for over the next few days.

Dr. Duchen and his team captured all kinds of animals, carefully took samples, and sent them to the CDC in Atlanta. for analysis on June 16, 4 days after the samples arrived in Atlanta, Dr. Duchen obtained his confirmation that the disease affecting the Navajos was not completely new, it was called hairus, but this strain of hairus was completely unique, the CDC had not been able to identify it. before because it normally attacks the kidneys, while this particular strain affected people's lungs, but thanks to the advice of the Navajo medicine man, CDC scientists knew what was spreading the disease, it was the creature known as na un when Dr. man met with President Zah and the medicine men told him how this real-life animal played a prominent role in the Navajo origin myth.

According to Navajo legend, the creature is responsible for spreading the seeds of life throughout the world, however, it can also be dangerous and its breath can be fatal. The animal is incredibly common in North America, but the Navajo Feit is so intense that it burns your clothing even if you touch them individually. This animal is not a big threat because each one does not carry enough virus to endanger anyone, but there is enough. They can spread diseases like a forest fire that winter, the heavy rains in the Four Corners area created a concentrated population of the animal that had only occurred twice before in 1918 and in 1933, in all three cases the heavy rains had caused more plants and vegetation.

This in turn fed the creature and allowed it to multiply and then infiltrated the homes of Navajo people like Florina Woody and Merill Bay, leaving traces of the hunting virus wherever they went. The creature responsible for spreading this disease was the humble deer mouse and a game virus is a family of viruses spread primarily by rodents and the spring deer mice had been all over the navajo reservation and surrounding areas, crawling into homes, They nested in sheds, barns, and storage units, no matter how many holes were plugged or trapped. There were only two too many of them to stop and wherever they went they left their excrement that carried the deadly virus when people like Florina and Meral tried to clean those areas they came into direct contact with the excrement and the virus entered their bodies high enough. concentrations to infect them, but now that the CDC knew what was behind the outbreak, local officials were able to reduce the danger after the deer mouse was identified as the culprit.

Public health advisories urged people to avoid rodents and told them how to make it harder for them to enter. their homes and although that did not eliminate the danger completely, it reduced it enough to help the outbreak end in mid-August, almost 3 months after Florina Woody's death, a total of 24 people in the area of ​​the four street corners were tragically infected with this previously unknown virus. half of them died but thanks to the cooperation between the CDC and the Navajo people the damage was limited and there have been very few outbreaks since then. In accordance with the Navajo custom of not pronouncing the names of the dead, the CDC decided to call this North strain of the American Haunt virus no nbre, which means no name from Ballin Studios and I wonder, these are Mr.

Ballin's medical

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brought to you by me, Mr. Ballin, a quick note about our stories, sometimes we use aliases because we don't We know the names of the real people in the story and in most cases we can't know exactly what was said, but it's all based on a lot of research and a reminder. The content of this

episode

is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice diagnosis or treatment in this

episode

. was written by Britt Brown our editor is Heather Dundis sound design is by Andre PLO Coordinating Producer is Sophia Martins our Senior Producer is Alex Benadon our Associate Producers and Researchers our Sarah Vac and Rate Palakonda Fact Checking was done by Sheila Patterson for Ball and Studios our Head of Production is Zack Levit.

The script is edited by Scott Allen and Evan Allen. Our coordinating producer is Matb Zir. The executive producers are myself, Mr. Ballin and Nick Witters for Wry. Our sound manager is Marcelino Vondo. Senior producers are Laura Donna Palivoda and Dave Schilling. The producer is Ryan Moore. Our executive producers are Aaron Oity and Marshall Louie for asking.