Dead on an airplane toilet seat
Jacques Bertrand
A few years ago I heard a "true" story (told by a doctor) of a fat woman
who was sitting on an airplane toilet seat. Her thighs were completely
covering the seat so no air could pass. When she activated the toilet
mechanism the suction completely emptied her body of her inner organs. Of
course she died...
Was it in the New England Journal of Medecine or is it an UL ?
Jacques "always lift one leg when you flush" Bertrand
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_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ I Jacques Bertrand @UQTR, dep. de Psychologie
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ I Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ I C.P. 500
_/ _/ _/ I Trois-Rivieres (Quebec),
_/ _/ _/ I CANADA G9A 5H7
_/ _/ _/ I email: BERT...@UQTR.UQUEBEC.CA
I phone: 819.376.5192 (poste 5192 a l'interne)
I fax: 819.376.5195
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ian A. York
In article <Du92r...@UQuebec.CA>,
Jacques Bertrand <bert...@UQTR.UQuebec.ca> wrote:
>A few years ago I heard a "true" story (told by a doctor) of a fat woman
>who was sitting on an airplane toilet seat. Her thighs were completely
>covering the seat so no air could pass. When she activated the toilet
>mechanism the suction completely emptied her body of her inner organs. Of
>course she died...
>
>Was it in the New England Journal of Medecine or is it an UL ?
The AFU FAQ (http://www.urbanlegends.com/) says:
F. Fat person on airline toilet has intestines sucked out due to vacuum.
T. Apparently, a "slightly obese" person on ship toilet has had intestines
sucked out due to vacuum.
T. A similar accident happened to a little girl who sat on a wading pool
drain in North Carolina happened on 26 June 1993 [she didn't die].
The airline toilet story seems not to have happened - there is nothing in
the literature about it, and I presume that it's a mutation of the ship
toilet story, which is based on a letter to the editors of the Journal of
the American Medical Association (JAMA), which I just happen to have
handy:
JAMA March 6, 1987 257(9):1177 ...
Vacuum Toilet Evisceration
To the Editor: --I would like to alert your readers to the
potential for serious injury that exists in the use of vacuum
toilets such as those found on cruise ships.
Recently, while on a Greek-registered cruise ship moored near
Vancouver, British Columbia, to accomodate the hotel overflow from
Expo 86, I responded to an emergency call over the ship's
loudspeaker and was asked to administer first aid to a woman who
had sustained a serious pelvic injury.
A 70-year-old, slightly obese woman was in her cabin lying
on the bunk in the right lateral recumbent position. She was
alert and responding verbally but in obvious distress, moaning in
pain, diaphoretic, and apprehensive. Protruding behind her on the
bed were several feet of small intestine with omentum attached.
The woman stated that she had flushed the toilet while still
seated and the suction had "pulled everything out." Apparently,
her buttocks and thighs had occluded the opening of the toilet
seat, causing the full force of the vacuum to be applied to the
perineal area. She kept repeating, "Why didn't they warn me?"
Indeed, the only warning associated with the use of the
toilet was a multilingual sign posted nearby stating in English:
"This toilet operates on vacuum system. Please do not throw any
object except toilet paper."
An ambulance crew responded with a few moments and
transported the woman to a local hospital. I left Canada within
the hour and am unaware of the final outcome of the incident.
Whether this occurrence represents a malfunction of this
particular vacuum system, or if this could occur with any vacuum
toilet, I do not know, but it certainly bears further
investigation.
J. Brendan Wynne, DO
Philadelphia
I've been meaning to write to Dr. Wynne to get confirmation and more
detail, but haven't yet done so.
There are several accounts of children getting eviscerated by swimming
pool drains, and I've posted some of those in the past. It's something
you should avoid.
Ian
--
Ian York (iay...@panix.com) <http://www.panix.com/~iayork/>
"-but as he was a York, I am rather inclined to suppose him a
very respectable Man." -Jane Austen, The History of England
Ian A. York
In article <4rtnqm$i...@panix2.panix.com>, Bo Bradham <bra...@panix.com> wrote:
>Ian A. York <iay...@panix.com> wrote:
>> ...
>>The airline toilet story seems not to have happened - there is nothing in
>>the literature about it, and I presume that it's a mutation of the ship
>>toilet story, which is based on a letter to the editors of the Journal of
>I heard the airline toilet story circa 1970, from a teacher of
Well, that's interesting; the airline toilet story therefore seems to
predate the published ship toilet story by 17 years or so. That's a
mark against the probity of the ship toilet letter, I guess.
Anyone else remember hearing either version before 1987?
Bo Bradham
>>A few years ago I heard a "true" story (told by a doctor) of a fat woman
>>who was sitting on an airplane toilet seat. Her thighs were completely
>>covering the seat so no air could pass. When she activated the toilet
>>mechanism the suction completely emptied her body of her inner organs. Of
>>course she died...
>The airline toilet story seems not to have happened - there is nothing in
>the literature about it, and I presume that it's a mutation of the ship
>toilet story, which is based on a letter to the editors of the Journal of
>handy:
>
I heard the airline toilet story circa 1970, from a teacher of
mine whose daughter worked for an airline (FOAAE in afu
terminology). The way I heard it the woman was stuck, but there
was no loss of internal organs. The kicker was they decided not
to try to get her off the toilet before landing because the
suction was so great. Instead they got her good and drunk. She
spent the rest of the flight (however long it was) in the john,
probably singing old Andrews Sisters hits.
>There are several accounts of children getting eviscerated by swimming
>pool drains, and I've posted some of those in the past. It's something
>you should avoid.
Thanks for reminding me.
Bo "I made up the part about the Andrews Sisters" Bradham
--
"Sometimes you just have to throw the damn pie and start dancing."
- Kiran Wagle
Alan Bostick
bra...@panix.com (Bo Bradham) writes:
>I heard the airline toilet story circa 1970, from a teacher of
>mine whose daughter worked for an airline (FOAAE in afu
>terminology). The way I heard it the woman was stuck, but there
>was no loss of internal organs. The kicker was they decided not
>to try to get her off the toilet before landing because the
>suction was so great. Instead they got her good and drunk. She
>spent the rest of the flight (however long it was) in the john,
>probably singing old Andrews Sisters hits.
That story showed up in the maybe-fictional, maybe-factual COFFEE, TEA
OR ME?, a risque account of the adventures of two stewardesses. As
the book put it, it happened on Our Heroine's very first working flight.
It's been more than twenty years since I've laid eyes on the book; I
can't provide bibliographic details.
Alan "Here, lemme show you in Braille" Bostick
--
Alan Bostick | [Spielberg's] latest is TWISTER, a film that
mailto:abos...@netcom.com | gives whole new meaning to the phrase "giant
news:alt.grelb | sucking sound." -- Patrick Taggart
http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~abostick
David Lesher
iay...@panix.com (Ian A. York) writes:
>>I heard the airline toilet story circa 1970, from a teacher of
>Well, that's interesting; the airline toilet story therefore seems to
>predate the published ship toilet story by 17 years or so. That's a
>mark against the probity of the ship toilet letter, I guess.
Snopes, have you been playing doctor again?
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close...........(v)301 56 LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead........vr vr vr vr.................20915-1433
Michael Twomey
Jacques Bertrand (bert...@UQTR.UQuebec.ca) wrote:
: A few years ago I heard a "true" story (told by a doctor) of a fat woman
: who was sitting on an airplane toilet seat. Her thighs were completely
: covering the seat so no air could pass. When she activated the toilet
: mechanism the suction completely emptied her body of her inner organs. Of
: course she died...
: Was it in the New England Journal of Medecine or is it an UL ?
It was in Medical World News in the early 70's.
However, it was a casson (sp) worker. He had come up from several
hours at high pressure and sat down on a toilet. Of course this chamber
was at the high pressure. In the next chamber of the airlock system
there was a toilet at atmospheric pressure. When that toilet flushed,
that's when the first man had his intestines sucked out.
The rest of the article focussed on the poor doc's who had to come in
and at pressure put him together again. They only had 20mg of morphine
as I recall, but the patient was unconcious anyway.
There were photos of the cramped area and the patient did loose
what was sucked out. I no longer have the MWN that was in, but the
Cumulated Index Medicus should let you find it.
Mike Twomey
Terry Smith
> From: bert...@UQTR.UQuebec.ca (Jacques Bertrand)
> Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 00:30:44 GMT
> A few years ago I heard a "true" story (told by a doctor) of a
fat
> Was it in the New England Journal of Medecine or is it an UL ?
Does your university have a library?
[answer assumed]
There's an interesting game you can play called `talk to the
librarian' that not many people have heard of. It is more
amusing than `false dichotomy' by a whole nine yards .
Terry "Sorry, I meant a mile" Smith.
E Booth
A variation I heard on this one was a young mother left her infant child
alone in the kiddie pool. Apparently, one of the pool men had been
working on the small pool and failed to put the drain cover back on.
Well, when the filtering system started back up the infant was pulled
into the drain up to its shoulders. The powerful suction pulled out all
of its insides. The mother came running when she heard the screams, and
yanked the child from the drain. At least 30 feet of intestines trailed
her as she ran with the baby to try to get help. I have heard 2 endings
one the baby dies or 2 they are rushed to the hospital and all the guts
are pushed back in and the baby lives. You decide.....
Ian A. York
In article <31E73A...@tiac.net>, E Booth <ebo...@tiac.net> wrote:
>
>into the drain up to its shoulders. The powerful suction pulled out all
>of its insides. The mother came running when she heard the screams, and
>yanked the child from the drain. At least 30 feet of intestines trailed
Here's an interesting example of UL development. The basic story (infant
sits on pool drain, is eviscerated by the vacuum) is in fact true; I
append some of the articles on the subject. (It's in the FAQ
[http://www.urbanlegends.com/] as well.) But here we have a much more
dramatic and horrific version of the story, with the baby being sucked
in to its shoulders and thirty feet of intestine waving about as the
mother rushes to the hospital. This sort of exaggeration with telling
seems to occasionally happen to other UL's as well, such as the various
versions fo the organ theft stories - the baseline story has the victim
surviving in a bathtub full of ice, but there are also versions - like
the ones which led to the mobbing of the tourists in Guatemala - in which
children asre abducted and killed.
Hultman CS. Morgan R.
Transanal intestinal evisceration following suction from an uncovered
swimming pool drain: case report. [Review]
Journal of Trauma. 37(5):843-7, 1994 Nov.
Transanal suction from a swimming pool drain can result in intestinal
evisceration. We report the eighth such case, followed by a literature
review, description of the mechanism, and management guidelines. This
bizarre injury, which has devastating consequences for the children
involved, is completely preventable by installation of semi-permanent,
anti-vortex grates. [References: 18]
Cain WS. Howell CG. Ziegler MM. Finley AJ. Asch MJ. Grant JP.
Rectosigmoid perforation and intestinal evisceration from transanal
suction.
Journal of Pediatric Surgery. 18(1):10-3, 1983 Feb.
Transanal suction injuries were sustained in 1981 by five children when
they sat upon uncovered swimming area drain sites. Tears of the
rectosigmoid areas occurred in each with associated evisceration and loss
of substantial amounts of small intestine because of mesenteric
separation. These cases are reviewed.
Plagata EM. Bitman KL.
Traumatic evisceration of intestinal loops through the anus.
Annals of Emergency Medicine. 11(2):102-4, 1982 Feb.
A case of traumatic evisceration of intestinal loops through the anus in a
young child is presented. This unusual injury took place in a swimming
pool and was brought about when a negative pressure applied to the child's
perineum by the suction pump created a pressure differential of sufficient
force to cause the injury. Surgical management of the case is discussed.
David G. Hesprich
>alone in the kiddie pool. Apparently, one of the pool men had been
>working on the small pool and failed to put the drain cover back on.
Thing like this *do* happen undoubtedly (the parts about workmen forgetting
to replace parts, kind of like when your auto mechanic forgets to put in
the new parts you paid for). However...
>Well, when the filtering system started back up the infant was pulled
>into the drain up to its shoulders. The powerful suction pulled out all
>of its insides. The mother came running when she heard the screams, and
>yanked the child from the drain.
One aspect of this story that no one seems to have commented on, is "how
could mom hear the baby scream?" It seems that "into the drain up to its
shoulders" would place the baby's mouth underwater, or is my estimation of the
pools depth off? More than a foot of water and the kid would've needed
telepathy...
Most pool-sucking deaths that I've hear of involves someone playing too close
to the drain with the grate *on*. If one were to get a significant expanse of
skin up against it while the pump it running, well - that's a 1/2HP pump or
so. The victim drowns, stuck to the drain. All guts are on the inside,
where they belong. This seemed to be most common in jacuzzis.
Replacement drain covers for pools are somewhat mushroom-shaped afairs
(let's see if I can ASCII one up):
/-------------\ <- solid plastic top
| | | <- supports for top, water enters through sides (narrow)
-------------- <- pool floor
||||||||||| <- pool drainpipe, alligators, etc.
Since this arrangement prevents a body from creating a good enough seal against
the drain, the former risk of getting stuck to the bottom of the pool is
(hopefully) eliminated. For a stupid piece of plastic, those replacement
cover were expensive! (Come to think of it, all pool equipment, especially
repleacment parts, are expensive.)
-DG.
--
David G. Hesprich | "It is dark. You might be eaten
hesp...@seas.gwu.edu | by a grue."
|
TIP#245 | http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~darkgrue