Self treatment gone awry 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
Like many young adults in America, I took a four year stint as an undergrad, and like many in any university, I did hard time in the dorms. Having several red cross certifications in first aid and related activities, the residents of my floor often came to me with "boo-boos" or "I feel like crap, what's wrong?" However, one case sticks out in my mind. This student, who in the interests of kindness will not be named was famous for his heroic intake of ethanol enhanced beverages. He would often drunkenly come to me in need of first aid,often for small injuries. One day he came in, looking quite pale. I looked over him quickly and saw there was something severely wrong. He asked me to look at a wound he bandaged himself. Now, when I came within a foot of this bandage, I could SMELL the wound. BAD BAD sign. Adding a second pair of gloves, as well as a mask, I gingerly removed the gauze, uncovering what could modestly be described as biological gumbo. He had a three inch laceration on his forearm, pretty deep. He had sutured it himself, with a needle and black thread. Not sutures, THREAD. I'll spare the other details, but let's say it wasn't pretty. I enquired about this rather unorthodox method, and why would he do this. His answer. "Well, if I went to the hospital, they'd have ratted me out." (it can happen, but not often) He stated he "gritted his teeth, took the thread and needle, and sewed that sucker up, and let it sit for a week" Oh, alright, how silly of me to not follow this logic. Further questioning lead to another problem. Being somewhat aware of bacteria, and how to clean a wound, he came upon the idea that his "equipment" should be cleaned and disinfected. How did our rocket scientist do this? Wine. Yes... Wine. Ethanol can kill many organisims, but to be effective it should be fairly pure, and not mixed in with grapes and sulfates. Of course, the resulting infection, the source of the olfactory offense, was severe. He ended up requiring two operations to remove dead/semi rotten flesh, as well as partially paralyzing his hand. The moral of this tale? Thread belongs in clothes, not flesh, and wine goes in your mouth, not on a wound.Submitted on 03/04/2003
Submitted by:
Chris
Reference:
Personal Story
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