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One of the internet's most popular

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storytellers is hosting a new podcast,

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Mr. Bollin's Medical Mysteries.

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Because we've all been there, turning to the internet

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to self-diagnose inexplicable pains,

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body aches, sudden fevers, or strange

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rashes. Though

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our minds spiral to worst-case scenarios,

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it's usually nothing. But for an unlucky

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few, these symptoms can start the clock ticking

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on a terrifying medical mystery. And

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each week on Mr. Bollin's Medical Mysteries,

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you can expect bizarre, unheard-of diseases,

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miraculous recoveries, strange

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medical mishaps, and everything in between.

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Like the inexplicable death of a retired

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firefighter whose body was reduced to

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ashes even though nothing around him

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burned. Or the time when an entire

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town became ill with nausea and chills.

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The local doctor initially chalked it up to

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food poisoning, until people started

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jumping from buildings and seeing tigers

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on their ceilings. Each terrifying

0:55

true story will be sure to keep you up at night.

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You're about to hear a clip from Mr. Bollin's Medical

1:00

Mysteries. While you're listening, follow

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Mr. Bollin's Medical Mysteries on Amazon

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Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

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On a humid summer morning in June 1999, 36-year-old Sanju Bhagat was hard

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at work

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on

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a farm outside of Nagpur, a

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city in central India.

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The sun had just risen, and the air was

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already so hot that he found it hard to breathe.

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Sanju and a group of farmhands were hard

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at work tending to the soybean crops.

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He made his way through the field, stopping to catch

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his breath every few steps. Sanju

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moved a lot slower than his co-workers because

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of his massive belly. For

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the past 15 years, Sanju

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had struggled beneath the weight of his ever-growing

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stomach. At first,

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when he was in his early 20s, his family had thought he was just

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filling out a little, like

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all young men do when they become adults.

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But Sanju's stomach was still full. didn't stop growing. It

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kept getting bigger and bigger until

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it had swelled to the size of a massive

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watermelon. But his arms and legs

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stayed stick thin. He never understood

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why his belly kept growing since he didn't

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eat much. By

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the time Sanju reached his early 30s, he

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was in constant pain and his family

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desperately wanted him to see a doctor. But

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he couldn't afford to take time off of work. Although,

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deep down, he had to admit he was a little

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scared of what the doctor might find.

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The sun beat down on Sanju's head and

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he could feel his chest tighten.

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He tried to keep working, but today it was

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harder to breathe than usual.

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No matter how deeply he inhaled, he

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couldn't quite catch his breath.

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Finally, he dropped his shovel and doubled

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over, gasping for air. Sanju

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gathered what little strength he had left and

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stood up straight. He

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could feel other farm workers' eyes on him

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as he gathered his tools and headed home. It

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was the longest walk of Sanju's life. He

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felt humiliated and useless, but

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he was also afraid. He could barely

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take a breath. By the time

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he got to the small home he shared with

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his family, he nearly fell through

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the front door. The last thing he remembered

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was falling hard on the tile floor.

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Early the next morning, Dr. Ajay Mehta

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had just started his shift in the oncology

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ward at Tata Memorial Hospital. He

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was alerted that a new patient named Sanju

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Bharat had been brought in all the

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way from Nagpur and that he needed to

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be seen right away. Dr. Mehta

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hurried over to Sanju's room. If

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someone was rushed in an ambulance from so

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far away, it had to be a serious

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emergency. As soon as Dr.

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Mehta examined Sanju's giant

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swollen belly, he instructed the nurse

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to prepare the operating room for surgery.

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Dr. Mehta was a specialist in tumor removal

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and he was certain that Sanju had a massive

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tumor in his stomach, possibly

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the biggest one he'd ever seen. The

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tumor was likely pressing against Sanju's

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diaphragm, which was why he couldn't

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breathe. And given how big it was and

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Sanju's weakened condition, the tumor

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had to be removed immediately. While

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another nurse prepped Sanju for the operation,

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Dr. Mehta gathered his surgical

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team and headed to the operating room. As

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they sterilized their hands and put on clean scrubs,

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Dr. Mehta warned them that the tumor's sheer

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size would make this a very

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challenging operation. There

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was a risk of damaging the soft tissue in

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Sanju's stomach, his nerve endings, or

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blood vessels. In the worst case, the

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surgery could cause severe internal bleeding

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or even death.

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A few minutes later, Sanju was wheeled

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into the operating room on a gurney. Once

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he was under anesthesia, Dr. Mehta

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called for a scalpel. He

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placed one hand on Sanju's stomach for

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leverage, then he cut into

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Sanju's belly. After

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the blade broke through Sanju's skin and opened

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up his chest area, Dr. Mehta

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expected to see blood and a bright red

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mass of cancerous cells. Instead,

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gallons of thick yellowish

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fluid gushed from Sanju's

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stomach spilling onto the floor. The

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entire surgical team gasped. Dr.

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Mehta jumped out of the way trying to avoid

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the surge of bile. It had

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a foul odor that made everyone in the room

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start to gag. Nurses ran toward

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him with towels, trying to sop up

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the putrid-smelling liquid. While

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they cleaned up the mass, Dr. Mehta remained

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calm and carefully inserted his

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hand into Sanju's stomach to

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locate the tumor. At

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first, all he felt was thick jelly-like

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fluid sliding between his fingers. Then

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he grazed something unusual.

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His eyes went wide as he dove

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a little deeper. His palm wrapped

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around something soft but with a

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brittle core. He

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realized this was not a tumor. Whatever

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was in Sanju's stomach had bones,

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a lot of them. Dr.

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Madisjaw dropped as his hand

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explored the object floating in Sanju's

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stomach. He grabbed onto one of the tiny

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bones and began to slowly pull

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it up and out of Sanju's stomach.

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As he

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lifted the bizarre object into the air,

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he could hear more gasps from everyone

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in the room.