Teen loses limbs to sepsis after eating leftover noodles

The noodles cost him dearly. Photo / 123RF

Eating his friend's leftover noodles almost cost a young student his life, the fateful decision leaving him with life-changing injuries after he contracted sepsis.

The case was reported last year in the New England Journal of Medicine but has gone viral after it was shared by a popular You Tube channel.

The case notes reveal how the young man had no symptoms until he decided to eat leftover chicken noodles purchased by a friend the night before.

He then vomited repeatedly and was ravaged by pain, fever, stiffness of the neck and trouble breathing.

When he started to turn purple his friend rushed him to the emergency department.

His temperature continued to climb and his breathing worsened until doctors were forced to sedate and intubate him.

He was rushed to another hospital as doctors worked to discover the cause of his alarming symptoms, eventually discovering the presence of the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, often referred to as meningococcus, in his blood.

His friend had vomited after eating some of the meal the previous night but had not thrown it out, leaving the young man to discover it.

The sepsis that cost the teen his legs. Photo / New England Journal of Medicine

Doctors found the patient had received his first meningococcal vaccine, but never had the booster shot, which is recommended.

Doctors were forced to amputate both legs below the knee, as well as part of all 10 fingers.

He regained consciousness after nearly a month, waking to a life changed forever by the drastic action taken by surgeons.