LBrain

I was just read the riot act by my wife. She was quite angry with me as she was telling me this.
She was working in the ICU. A young man was admitted following an emergency call. Seems he was “sleeping it off” in the back of a truck when his body decided to give up. A co-worker was performing CPR when ambulance arrived. Later that night in the ICU he coded again. They were able to bring him back, but he’ll probably suffer from permanent brain damage – he was alive but not much else. He experienced acute renal failure and other complications. It was a mess she said.
Cause: acute alcohol intoxication (alcohol poisoning) paired with opiates found in blood sample. His BAC was off the charts. He was a healthy man in his twenties and in very good shape. He just had to over- do it with the after work party crowd. It is a shame.

To top it off, he was a transient worker and his parents had to fly in from out of state to witness this unresponsive being.

A young man in his prime will have no future because of alcohol and drugs. Sorry for the not so good message. But I hope it helps at least one person reading this make the decision to put down the alcohol and drugs. Even without the opiates, there was enough alcohol in the blood to take someone out. This is what binge drinking does to young folks.

I was also told that a good percentage of visitors to the ICU are there for alcohol related events.

Redemption28

So damn sad.

Ruby2

Brain, this is very sad. A friend of mine from AA works in a hospital emergency room and every night there are people coming in to detox. Busy place.

I hope your message helps at least one person. Sadly, when I was drinking I never thought these things would happen to me. I was invincible. Until I wasn't.

I hope that this young man has a better long term prognosis than he seems to have at the moment.

PurpleKnight

Very sad events!!

awuh1

This might be a good place to point out the potential harm that disparaging remarks, aimed at any of the various methods of recovery, might have on people coming here looking for answers.

Let's measure our words well.

Thepatman

Very Sad but necessary reminder.

I am lucky, like many of us here to be alive today.

thomas11

Hi LBrain, it is stories like the one you shared that slap me right in the face with reality. And I'm thankful for it.

SoberLeigh

How tragic; I hope the young man's condition and prognosis improve.

What a stark reminder of where alcoholism can lead; it can take us quickly; slowly and silently eat away at our organs; take our emotional health; and ruin the quality of our lives.

FreeOwl

that's pretty awful...

but why did your wife read YOU the riot act?

Jupiters

this breaks my heart
so young, so frikken sad.
if I had a nickel for everytime I binge drank to those degrees...man, I would be a rich lady. Stories like this drill into my head how damn lucky I was.
RIP young one.

DoubleDragons

Sometimes my breath is taken away when I think of all of the "lucky breaks" I got as I was primarily a binge drinker. I am sickened to think that I took so, so much for granted.

Axiom

I really needed to read this today, thank you.

LBrain

I guess whenever she sees something bad caused by alcohol it reminds her of what she went through (still going through) with me. Granted, not as bad as a near death experience, but unpleasant just the same. This is all still fresh for her - my career ending event. It was only since the end of August that things have been sort of stable in these parts. I googled myself yesterday as I was considering maybe looking for work. Not good. Not good at all.

jolyn67

that's why im here because I need to quit drinking its killing me

Please Help

Hevyn

Oh no LBrain - it could be any one of us. I was such a fool, always thought I could come back from anything. Prayers for the young man to have a miracle.

Crasfd

Very sad

OnMyWay7

What a shame could have been me or any of us.

Fluffer

Yep, could have been me on several occasions. Such are the risks of binge drinking Russian Roulette.

FreeOwl

ahhh.... yeah, makes sense. I guess I lost track of time and didn't realize how 'new' things were still for you.

It's understandable... when we put our loved ones through hell it is bound to leave wounds that are easily triggered by parallel events. Hang in there, keep at it, let all of that be part of your rearview mirror.

ScottFromWI

Sad, but it happens every day. Even here in my small town there seem to be fatal accidents in cars, motorcycles and snowmobiles on a weekly basis where "speed and alcohol were a factor". Last fall a heroin addict shot up with his 5 year kid in the back seat and proceed to drive into a bridge piling and kill himself and permanently disfigure and brain damage his son in the process. Stuff like that happens every single day.