A&E staff are left stunned as a man arrives turning Smurf-blue, kicking off a bizarre medical mystery
The reason left him more red than blue.
Tommy Lynch, a 42-year-old construction worker, woke up one afternoon in November to find his skin had turned a shocking shade of blue. This unexpected transformation led to a panicked rush to A&E, only for doctors to discover an incredibly mundane, yet hilarious, reason for his Smurf-like appearance.
According to LADBible, Tommy, who hails from Castle Gresley, Derbyshire, had been feeling a bit under the weather and tired. When he looked in the mirror, he was stunned to see himself resembling an “Avatar.” His friend, who works as a carer, was so concerned by his blue hue, thinking he might be oxygen-deprived, that he insisted Tommy head straight to the hospital.
Arriving at Queen’s Hospital in Burton on November 15, Tommy definitely turned heads. He recalled everyone in the A&E reception staring at him like they’d seen a ghost. Despite his panic, he even tried to sort his hair out before going in.
It really took 10 doctors to figure it out
The hospital staff quickly gave him a bed and put him on oxygen, clearly worried about his unusual condition. He mentioned that at one point, about 10 doctors were gathered around him, all looking puzzled. They even admitted they’d never seen someone that color and still be alive.
The mystery was solved with a rather anti-climactic, but incredibly funny plot twist. One of the doctors decided to wipe Tommy’s arm with an alcohol wipe. To everyone’s surprise, the blue color started to come right off. That’s when it clicked for Tommy, and the doctors finally had their diagnosis: it was just dye from his new, unwashed bedsheets.
Tommy was absolutely mortified, telling the medical staff, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” for wasting their time. However, the doctors took it in stride, telling him he’d given them a good laugh, which they don’t usually get in A&E.
It turns out the king-size bedsheets were a £40 gift from a friend, meant to keep him warm. What he didn’t realize was the crucial step of washing them before their first use to prevent the dye from transferring. He sleeps nude, and he thinks overheating in his sleep might have contributed to the dye transfer. He remembered feeling “lovely and cozy” that night.
Apparently, he’d noticed a “light blue” tint the day before, but he just chalked it up to feeling cold. When he sent a picture to his mum, she initially panicked, thinking it was a serious circulation issue, while he was still pretty confused after a deep sleep.
After his embarrassing hospital trip, Tommy learnt his lesson. His first order of business was to wash those sheets, and he hasn’t gone blue since. It took him a whole week of multiple baths to finally get the blue off his skin, with the bathwater turning blue each time. He’s now urging everyone to learn from his mortifying experience and wash any new bedsheets before using them.
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