#unusualdeath

[criminol]

Man Dies After Eating Too Much Liquorice

A 54-year-old construction worker from Massachusetts, with no history of heart problems, died after eating one to two large bags of black liquorice every day for a few weeks. Glycyrrhizic acid, found in black liquorice, can cause dangerously low potassium and imbalances in minerals and electrolytes. Even eating as little as 2 ounces of black liquorice a day for 2 weeks can cause heart rhythm issues especially in people over the age of 40. The man's death was clearly an extreme case, he was reported to have switched from red, fruit-flavoured candy to the black liquorice version a few weeks before his death. The man collapsed while having lunch at a fast-food restaurant, he was found to have dangerously low potassium which had led to heart rhythm problems. He never regained consciousness and died in hospital the next day.

[criminol]

The Man Who Died 8 Years After Eating A Slug

Rugby player Sam Ballard, 29-years-old, from Sydney in Australia's tragic death in 2018 made headlines due to the unusual cause of death- eating a slug 8 years earlier. Ballard was at a party in 2010 when one of his friends dared him to eat a slug. Days later, Ballard complained of leg pain and was eventually diagnosed with a rat lungworm infection. The parasite is harboured by rats, can be passed on to snails and slugs who in turn can pass the worm onto humans. Once ingested the worm can penetrate the intensive, nervous system and outer brain lining. Many people recover on their own but Sam developed an uncommon type of meningitis which put him in a coma for 420 days and left him brain-damaged, a quadriplegic and resulted in permanent seizures. Sam died in 2018.