A fisherman who suffered a horrible case of the bends after surfacing from a dive too quickly has revealed his now-deformed body as doctors attempt to treat him.
Peruvian Alejandro Ramos Martinez gained nearly five stone in weight as his arms and chest ballooned after he went diving to collect sea creatures from the seafloor.
His nearly fatal error was to rise through the water too fast, causing the nitrogen in his blood to form enormous, grotesque bubbles.
The nitrogen swelled into great sacs and left him suffering from the extreme agony of decompression sickness – also known as the bends.
Doctors are treating the unlucky fisherman but say they are unable to remove all the air. So far they have reduced the nitrogen in his body by 30 per cent
Peruvian Alejandro Ramos Martinez gained nearly five stone after swimming up from a dive in the Pacific Ocean too quickly
Symptoms include swollen joints, mottled, itching skin, brain damage, paralysis, headaches, coughs, dizziness and nausea.
Decompression sickness, which is usually caused by ascending too fast when scuba diving, can also be fatal – and is deeply feared by divers.
But Alejandro’s case, where nitrogen has stuck in balloon-like pods around his muscles, is believed to be unique.
He is now being given oxygen treatments in a pressurised chamber.
Miguel Alarcon – a doctor at the San Juan de Dios hospital in Pisco, Peru – said he and his colleagues have so far managed to drain about 30 per cent of the nitrogen in Alejandro’s body.
Doctors are also keenly researching Alejandro’s decompression sickness because of its unprecedented nature.
They have considered surgery to remove the nitrogen from Alejandro’s body but fear the operation would be too difficult.
The bends is one of the most feared sicknesses from which a diver can suffer. But Martinez’s case is unique
It was not clear what caused Alejandro to ascend so fast – or how he makes his living now that he can no longer dive for sea creatures
Cure: Martinez in an air lock at hospital. He is now being given oxygen treatments in a pressurised chamber
Doctors are also keenly researching Alejandro’s decompression sickness because of its unprecedented nature
For now Alejandro endures severe pain and walks with difficulty because of the accident.
He also suffers from serious hypertension.
The bends is becoming increasingly rare thanks to the use of wearable dive computers or dive tables to calculate how fast they can ascend.
It was not clear what caused Alejandro to ascend so fast that he contracted the bends – or how he makes his living now that he can no longer dive.