My brain exploded when I SNEEZED: Alabama man, 26, needed surgery after blood clot burst in skull
My brain exploded when I sneeze: Alabama man, 26, had surgery after blood clot burst in his skull
An Alabama man suffered internal bleeding after sneezing, causing a fatal stroke.
University student Sam Messina, 26, lay in bed in September 2016 when a blood clot in his brain ruptured.
The pressure of sneezing caused the blood clot to pop out of his nose, causing him to have a stroke and pass out.
Mr. Messina had to undergo three operations in a week to remove the blood clot and thankfully made a full recovery.
Sam Messina, 26, spent a week in hospital and received 27 staples, then spent a month recovering in bed at home before the staples were removed
The student had to undergo three operations in a week to remove the blood clot and fortunately made a full recovery
Mr. Messina with girlfriend and college sweetheart Nicole Kramer, who took him to the hospital
Doctors discovered a deadly aneurysm and he was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a condition that causes a tangle of the blood vessels that connect arteries and veins in the brain.
The arteries and veins can rupture, causing bleeding in the head.
“I was in my prime in college after starting my junior year when I was in bed, and I was sneezing,” said Mr. Messina.
“And when I sneezed, I actually had an aneurysm. I had a blood clot — a condition where I had a blood clot in my brain that doesn’t rupture until you’re in your twenties.”
He said, “My brain pretty much exploded and the clot came out of my nostrils.
“It caused me to have a stroke too, so I passed out and should have died.”
He added, “But since I sneeze, it was the most peaceful way to get this thing to rip.
When I sneezed, before passing out, I managed to reach for my phone.
“I called my mom, who called my girlfriend, who ended up taking me out of my apartment and to the hospital.”
Doctors soon realized that Mr. Messina had a hemorrhage in his brain and he was immediately rushed to another hospital for further treatment and surgery.
Mr. Messina said, “It was terrifying, but I knew that if that was what had to be done, I would have to.”
He dropped out of school to have the surgery. He was spent a week in the hospital and had 27 staples placed, then spent a month recovering in bed at home before the staples were removed.
Mr. Messina said, “It was a really strange time. All I could think of was how to get my life back on track.”
The pressure caused by sneezing can lead to the rupture of a brain aneurysm.
Mr. Messina had one aneurysm or blood clot in his brain, known as AVM.
This is a condition that causes a tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain.
In most cases, people are born with AVM, but they can occur shortly after birth or later in life. Sometimes they are even passed down through families. Doctors aren’t sure what causes it.
Arteries carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the brain, while veins carry deoxygenated blood back to the lungs and heart.
An AVM in the brain disrupts this vital process. AVMs can occur anywhere in the body, but most commonly happen in the brain and spinal cord, but overall, brain AVMs are rare.
Some people with an AVM in the brain may experience headaches or seizures. It is often only discovered after a hemorrhage – when the blood vessels rupture and bleed.