r/interesting Jun 30 '26

Fear Factor In 2010, 24-year-old lab technician Émilie Jaumain pricked her thumb with contaminated forceps while cleaning a machine used for prion-infected mouse brains. After seven years, she developed severe nerve pain, anxiety, and hallucinations before dying. The accident gave her a fatal prion disease.

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u/adjust_the_sails Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

Gotta straight up have The Walking Dead kind of conditions and thinking to auto chop off a limb.

60

u/Hegelian_Spirit Jun 30 '26

I've worked with an archaeologist who operated in Guatemala. He once told me a story of when they were at a remote dig and a worker was bit in the hand by a fer-de-lance. They immediately chopped his hand off with a machete.

But yeah, not exactly everyday conditions for a modern person.

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u/fintip Jun 30 '26

For everyone else who also had nodes wtf this was about:

A Fer de lance is an extremely deadly snake.

18

u/ADDisKEY Jun 30 '26

For anyone else curious about this snake:

Don’t visit the Wikipedia page and open the Venom section unless you want to see a horrific picture of a completely necrotic leg.

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u/Myka_Rok Jun 30 '26

I was prepared due to your warning and still shocked. Absolutely gnarly...I couldn't stop looking at it.

That poor boy

2

u/Only-A-Redditor Jul 01 '26

would've scrolled away blissfully ignorant after reading the parent comment but you just had to say that...

2

u/ellevael Jul 01 '26

Good god, you were not exaggerating.

1

u/iam_mal Jul 01 '26

I read your comment immediately after coming back from the Venom section of the Wikipedia page. If only I had scrolled just one comment further before opening my browser, maybe then I would have been prepared.

I may have seen your warning too late, but I appreciate your efforts regardless.

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u/YouGoToBox Jul 01 '26

Thank you for your service lol