12 Medical Staff Share Eye-Popping Encounters They’ll Never Forget

Doctors, nurses, and medical professionals often encounter people at their most vulnerable, leading to some truly curious, astonishing, and even hair-raising situations. After reading the stories we've collected for you today, you'll have even greater respect for these medical specialists, as their courage and patience are truly admirable.

• We used to have a resident patient who would constantly yell out 'hello.' It drove us crazy. After he passed away, a lady moved into that room.
  One night, I was working a double, evening to nights, and she pulled her call bell. I went in and she was pale and shaking. I got chills when I heard her say, "Make him stop."
  "Make who stop what?"
  "The old man standing beside the bed, he won't stop yelling hello." © Ephy_Chan / Reddit

• I shadowed a surgery once with this guy who woke up saying, "Give it to me straight, doc, will I ever play the piano again?" All of us were laughing, and then he goes, "Oh, wait... I don't know how to play the piano." © Unknown author / Reddit

• A diabetic patient came in with a blood sugar of 39.
  "What happened?"
  "I wanted to eat a slice of birthday cake, so I took my whole bottle of insulin." © NurseNikkiLee / Reddit

• I’m a nurse, and one of the strangest things I’ve seen happen while someone was giving birth is a patient deciding to tell her boyfriend that it wasn’t his baby. That made the whole room go silent, and the boyfriend just left without saying a thing. © The_Sargent_Sarcasm / Reddit

• My patient was sedated and screamed, "Roy Halladay is a vampire reincarnated as Duke Ellington."
  I'd never had to try so hard not to laugh. I still have random bursts of hysterical laughter about it. © jeff_the_nurse / Reddit

• A woman went to A&E because of all these dark marks all over her body, especially her hands. It turned out it was her fake tan going patchy. © ilikecocktails / Reddit

• I had a patient check in to the emergency department at 3 am for popcorn stuck in their teeth. Promptly discharged them from the triage booth. © orchards_rest / Reddit

• Back when I was an ophthalmic nurse, a patient phoned up complaining of eye soreness after cataract surgery. I went through the usual questions, including "Are you having trouble seeing things clearly?" His totally serious answer, "Only when I close my eyes." © faelavie / Reddit

• I worked in a cardiology clinic as a scribe before medical school. We had this one guy with a history of heart failure and significant problems with his legs swelling. He thought that drinking distilled water would help flush the fluid out of his legs because it was, in his words, "pure."
  He was admitted to the hospital and had about 40 pounds of fluid taken off. He did the same thing three months later. © mctaylor241 / Reddit

• A patient came in with "severe pain in her feet." It turned out her shoes were too small. © ***d***t92 / Reddit

• I work in an operating room and had a patient try to put his dislocated shoulder back in place by having his buddy pull his arm while he slammed into a door frame. We ended up fixing his broken scapula with plates and screws. His reason? Vin Diesel did it in a movie. © Plumage07 / Reddit

• A few months ago, my husband, who is a doctor, came home and told me he had to argue with a diabetic patient. He recommended the patient stop drinking two giant bottles of Mountain Dew per day because that was one of the major factors making his diabetes worse.
  The patient said, “No, that’s not it. I’ve drunk this stuff my whole adult life and only got diabetes a few years ago.” The guy left, insisting his soda habit was fine. © torchwood1842 / Reddit

We don’t have to work in the medical field to encounter situations that leave a lasting impact on us. In this article, you'll find a collection of stories that will remain etched in the memories of those who experienced them.