While many people love to travel, sitting in a confined space with a bunch of strangers for prolonged periods of time can be stressful and extremely unpleasant.
After a Transavia Airlines flight took off from Spain to the Netherlands, the passengers started complaining that another passenger smelled as if he hadn’t bathed for weeks. Ultimately, the odor became so unbearable that pilots were forced to make an emergency landing. Once on the ground, however, the tragic truth about the sickening stench was revealed…
A Dream Vacation
On May 29, a Russian couple boarded a plane at the end of a holiday in the Canary Islands, a group of Spanish islands off the coast of northwestern Africa, where they spent their vacation swimming in turquoise waters and exploring the islands.
The Flight Plan
After the pair boarded the plane, the couple planned to travel from the Canary Islands and land in the Netherlands, which was supposed to be their final destination. Unfortunately, however, that never happened…
A Foul Odor
Shortly after taking off other passengers began to make complaints to the flight attendants that a 58-year-old Russian man had extremely bad body odor. According to flight attendants, the smell was so strong and so foul that other passengers actually started to get sick.
Containing The Smell
When other passengers on the flight started to actually vomit and faint because of the man’s body odor, the flight attendants had no choice but to ask the man to go sit inside 1 of the plane’s bathrooms in an attempt to contain the sickening odor…
An Emergency Landing
“It was like he hadn’t washed himself for several weeks,” a passenger said. “Several passengers got sick and had to puke.” Unfortunately, even the bathroom couldn’t contain the pungent smell and the pilots had no choice but to make an unscheduled emergency landing in Faro, Portugal.
An Unpleasant Situation
The experience, “was, of course, a very unpleasant situation for this passenger and his family, but certainly also for the other passengers and our crew,” Transavia Airlines said in a statement after the emergency landing in Portugal…
Normal Hygiene
Once on the ground, 58-year-old Andrey Suchilin was removed from the plane and the flight continued on to the Netherlands without the Russian couple. Andrey, a well-known Russian rock guitarist, explained to officials that he didn’t believe the smell was body odor as he didn’t normally smell so bad and was bathing regularly.
The Real Source Of The Smell
Instead, Andrey believed the smell was because of an infection. According to Andrey and his wife, Lidia, the guitarist didn’t smell because he had poor hygiene, but because he got an infection while on their vacation in Spain…
A Smelly Infection
“The tragic and comic component of this whole situation is that I caught a disease, which (let’s not say how and why) makes a person quite stinky,” Andrey wrote on his Facebook page after news of the emergency landing started to spread.
The Wrong Diagnosis
According to the couple, Andrey visited a doctor while in Spain. During the examination, the doctor told Andrey that he had an ‘ordinary beach infection’ and prescribed him antibiotics to treat it. But clearly, the doctor had been wrong…
Wasting Precious Time
Andrey knew he needed to get a second opinion about the infection and the smell, but he and his wife were forced to postpone treatment for another 5 hours as they argued with his insurance provider who refused to pay for his medical care since his insurance had just expired.
A Dangerous Infection
In the end, Lidia and Andrey had to call an ambulance themselves and had friends send them money so that Andrey could get seen by a doctor. After examining the 58-year-old, the doctor revealed that Andrey didn’t have an ‘ordinary’ infection, but an extremely deadly one…
The Real Diagnosis
Doctors explained to Andrey and Lidia that Andrey’s infection was really necrotic tissue disease, which had caused the 58-year-old’s body to start decomposing while he was still alive. Doctors couldn’t tell how Andrey contracted necrosis, but the bacteria can thrive in beach environments where water cuts off oxygen to a wound.
Rotting From The Inside Out
Necrosis is a dangerous condition where the body’s tissue dies after being starved of oxygen, which can be caused by frostbite, deep vein thrombosis, and an infection. What passengers on the plane thought was just extremely bad body odor was actually the smell of Andrey’s rotting tissue…
Easy To Miss
In Andrey’s case, the necrosis was caused by a flesh-eating bacteria, which his original doctor thought was just a typical infection. “Unfortunately, early necrotizing fasciitis is easily missed,” said epidemiologist Allen Cheng.
The Symptoms
“This is because the symptoms – fever, pain, swelling and tenderness at the affected site – may be non-specific or confused with a mild, superficial infection,” Cheng explained. “The hallmark of necrotizing fasciitis is pain far more severe than expected for what might otherwise look like a minor infection…”
An Unpleasant Progression
“As the infection progresses, the skin becomes tense and discolored, and patients may become severely unwell with low blood pressure and confusion,” Cheng explained about the condition, which can be treated surgically.
Treating The Infection
Andrey was rushed to the hospital to treat the necrosis, which can be treated by removing the dead tissue and stopping the spread of the bacteria. Unfortunately, by the time Andrey arrived at the hospital, the small window of time to treat and stop the necrosis had already passed…
Too Far Gone
In such an advanced stage, doctors decided it would be best to put Andrey in an induced coma to try and prevent organ failure. Yet, Andrey’s condition quickly deteriorated and he was put in intensive care in critical condition.
A ‘Pioneer’ Dies
The bacteria spread to Andrey’s kidneys, heart, and lungs. Sadly, there was nothing doctors could do to save him, and the guitarist, a ‘pioneer of rock music’ in Russia, died of organ failure on June 25, 2018. “Andrei’s gone. Alas,” said his devastated wife, who argued that he might still be alive if they weren’t forced to waste 5 precious hours arguing with the insurance company about coverage.
Tragic Diagnosis Behind Man’s Body Odor That Forced Emergency Plane Landing is an article from: LifeDaily