Story of Man Who Had Legs Amputated After Eating Leftovers Goes Viral

A year-old story about a New England man getting both his legs amputated has cropped up again after a fictional portrayal of the incident went viral on YouTube.

In 2021 it was revealed that a 19-year-old man only identified as JC lost his legs and parts of his fingers after eating leftover rice, chicken, and lo mein, ultimately leading him to multiple organ failure, WFLA reports. The new video, above, comes from the channel Chubbyemu, where a licensed medical provider called Dr. Bernard makes “medical videos, telling stories in medicine.”

The man began feeling ill about 20 hours after consuming the food, which is when he started having abdominal pain, nausea, and began vomiting. Other symptoms included chest pain, shortness of breath, and blurry vision. His skin started to discolor and turned purple, which is when his friend took him to the hospital. JC was later brought to Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Multiple episodes of emesis occurred, with vomitus that was either bilious or red-brown. 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,” a report read.

JC had been staying with the aforementioned friend at the time, who also ate the same leftovers but who only threw up once and didn’t get as sick as JC. He was later diagnosed with meningococcal purpura fulminan disease, as doctors soon found out that he had missed a booster shot for the meningococcal vaccine when he was 16 years old. He’s now in good condition.