When I Woke Up My Leg Was Gone
Here's a news story that bears an eerie resemblance to the urban legend about the guy who shares a drink with a stranger in a bar and wakes up to find his kidney gone. This news report involves a German professor who goes on holiday to Costa Rica and visits a hospital to have them check out his swollen left foot:When I got to the hospital they put me on a bed and I heard the word amputate. I tried to protest, but before I knew it they had given me drugs to black me out, and when I woke up I was at the departure lounge. My suitcases were by my side - and then I realised my leg was missing. I couldn't move, and when I checked my wallet I found that £200 had been taken out and replaced with a receipt for the amputation.
Wow! Talk about bad luck. Of course, this story appears on Ananova, so it's anyone's guess whether it's actually true.
Posted By: Alex | Date: Thu Jan 20, 2005 | Permalink |
Total Comments: 13
Category: Body Manipulation, Urban Legends
Category: Body Manipulation, Urban Legends
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 1 of 1 pages
Sounds like Monty Python's Tiger in Africa skit (paraphrased) "I woke up this morning with one sock too many"
Posted by DaveO on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 01:08 AM
It's on Yahoo, too (link from snopes), attributed to 'Press Association'. Anyone know who or what this organization is? I almost gave it default credence due to the (what, accidental?) similarity of name to 'Associated Press'...
Posted by paul in prague on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 02:04 AM
For what it's worth I saw this gentleman on tv
here. Yes, he has a leg stump and looks like a prof.
It could easily be established he is a real person as he is a mathematics professor in Leipzig.
I see no reason why his story shouldn't be true.
See http://www.mdr.de/brisant/1773080.html
Posted by Florian in DĚsseldorf on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 08:23 AM
here. Yes, he has a leg stump and looks like a prof.
It could easily be established he is a real person as he is a mathematics professor in Leipzig.
I see no reason why his story shouldn't be true.
See http://www.mdr.de/brisant/1773080.html
"I see no reason why his story shouldn't be true."
-Because it's really WEIRD. Maybe I'm thinking too American, but I can't see someone taking $200 (pounds, whatever) out of someone's wallet & sticking a receipt in its place.
He looks like a prof?? I can stick put scrubs on & sit in a hospital, but it wouldn't make me a doctor.
Posted by Maegan in Tampa, FL - USA on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 09:17 AM
-Because it's really WEIRD. Maybe I'm thinking too American, but I can't see someone taking $200 (pounds, whatever) out of someone's wallet & sticking a receipt in its place.
He looks like a prof?? I can stick put scrubs on & sit in a hospital, but it wouldn't make me a doctor.
...minus the stick?
Posted by Maegan in Tampa, FL - USA on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 09:18 AM
It's not in the same league, but a friend of mine (not a friend of a friend-- I really know this person and talked to her the same day it happened) almost lost several teeth the same way. Her insurance dropped the dentist she had been using, so she went to a new one. She mentioned that a filling in one of her molars had been bothering her. The next thing she knew, the dentist's assistant was in the room demanding that she pay in advance to have that tooth and the one next to it pulled! No niceties like discussing it with her or getting permission first. If the dentist hadn't been so greedy (wanting his whole fee up front), he might have yanked the first tooth before she could run away.
She got out of there as fast as she could, then went to a competent dentist who put a new filling in the molar and it was as good as new.
Posted by Big Gary C in Dallas, Texas on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 07:26 PM
She got out of there as fast as she could, then went to a competent dentist who put a new filling in the molar and it was as good as new.
In Costa Rica a local newspaper ran the story citing Ananova and Bild.de as primary sources (Al DĚa http://www.aldia.co.cr/ad_ee/2005/enero/19/nacionales8.html) . They say that there are no migratory records of Mr. Jurisch`s stay between 2002 and 2005 but the Migration Office says there could be misspellings. Also the german embassy in the country denies that he ever sought help for his situation.
http://www.mdr.de/brisant/1773080.html (Already posted) gives some interesting details [Playa Conchal has indeed very luxurious hotels] and if it was in fact a medical error, it would not have been the first arround here (Some years ago a doctor in Turrialba, a rural hospital, amputed in two separate cases the "wrong" legs to diabetics)
Posted by Francesc Blandino in Alajuela, Costa Rica on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 08:24 PM
http://www.mdr.de/brisant/1773080.html (Already posted) gives some interesting details [Playa Conchal has indeed very luxurious hotels] and if it was in fact a medical error, it would not have been the first arround here (Some years ago a doctor in Turrialba, a rural hospital, amputed in two separate cases the "wrong" legs to diabetics)
Where are you sticking those scrubs Maegan? 
I just couldn't resist.
Posted by Myst on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 08:31 PM
I just couldn't resist.
Just a few years ago a hspital here in the USA amputated the wrong leg of a patient and then had to go back and amputate the correct one, they charged for both. Patient won the lawsuit. Other similar incidents involved people needing surgery and losing a leg or arm due to a mix-up in the instructions to the doctor or whatever they are called. Doctor acted on the information given by the hospital and acted properly on that information. Again, patients won the lawsuits. Other than the unusual collection methods, this sort of thing could happen just about anywhere. However, I do have one question about one aspect that no one else seems to have caught. The hospital rushed the guy out real quick, didn't try to milk him for bed charges, extra medicine, nurse care, etc. Instead of two hundred pounds, they could have billed him for several thousand. Seems a false note in the story.
Posted by Christopher Cole in Tucson, AZ on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 05:07 PM
The same thing happened to me. They took BOTH of them. I tried to sue, but my lawyer said "I didn't have a leg to stand on". Ba dum Bum
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Fri Jan 21, 2005 at 05:11 PM
Paul in Prague asked about Press Association. It's the British domestic wire agency, owned by the major newspapers.
Posted by Scrib on Sat Jan 22, 2005 at 09:53 AM
...Sometimes when a foot is dmgd badly, you may have to amputate up higher than you think...But again, I think this is fake.
And I TRIED to correct my grammer mistake!!
=op
Posted by Maegan in Tampa, FL - USA on Sun Jan 23, 2005 at 09:39 AM
And I TRIED to correct my grammer mistake!!
=op
*singing* I have no leg! *ching ching*
Hey, nobody else said it....
Posted by Barghest on Tue Jan 25, 2005 at 10:58 PM
Hey, nobody else said it....
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