A man suffering from an eating disorder was hospitalized in a critical condition last night after his cravings led to ingest more than 60 deodorizer blocks designed for toilets.
64-year old Marius Hanson, from Freeport in Illinois, works as a janitor in a retirement home and he was found unconscious around 11 PM last night by one of his coworkers.
He’s known for suffering from binge eating disorder (BED), which has led him to eat compulsively several things on his worksite in the past, including toilet paper, plastic syringes, disposable diapers, and even a couple of mops heads.
Eric Fraser, the colleague who found him inert next to an empty box of chemical deodorizers says he immediately realized what had happened.
“There were dozens of blocks missing from the box and his breath stank of perfume and chemicals. I felt like throwing up, but I knew he would die if I did nothing.”
Mr. Fraser rapidly called 911 before performing a heart massage on his colleague until the paramedics arrived a few minutes later.
“I was terrified. His mouth was foaming and his eyes kept rolling. Just before the ambulance arrived, he woke up and began vomiting some kind of pink perfumed goo and coughing bubbles.”
Luckily, Mr. Hansen was transported to the hospital, where doctors were rapidly able to stabilize him and treat his poisoning.
He had even regained consciousness this morning and suffered from no apparent consequences from his ordeal.
Every year, thousands of Americans are hospitalized due to the consequences of binge eating disorder, a problem estimated to affect around 90,000 across the U.S.
While most of these cases involve actual food or at least edible items, several dozen cases every year involve non-edible or even poisonous products.
Over the last few years, some cases have involved things as various as foam padding, cd’s, cigarette butts, nail varnish, and even lightbulbs.
Even if most victims are able to survive and even cure of BED, more the 300 Americans die every year from eating dangerous or poisonous items.