A 45 year old man from Fuentes de León in Badajoz, José Manuel Hidalgo, ate some mushrooms to show they were not poisonous, and ended up in intensive care. It happened last Sunday during an open day being held in the village, which had been proceeded by a day of mushroom collecting and display.
The victim got into an argument with other locals as to how lethal wild mushrooms could be, with a poster warning that as little as 20 grams could be fatal. José Manuel did not believe it, and suddenly to prove his point, started to eat the ‘amanita phalloides’ mushroom. On the second bite he showed symptoms of being drunk, and continued to claim the mushroom was not fatal.
José Manuel Hidalgo refused to be taken to [the] hospital until he started to turn yellow[…] He spent two days in the intensive care unit, and finally was allowed out onto the ward on Tuesday afternoon amid concerns that his liver may have suffered permanent damage.
He still may qualify for the Darwin Award if his liver gives out.
Its interesting…
One of the few things in this world, that is TOTALLY against Living cells..Fungus… AND someone doesn’t BELIEVE, from the locals…That HE has poisonous ones…
What do the locals know?? REALLY..
I guess he proved his point. They weren’t fatal.
So I guess the Darwin Award is a only posthumously achieved.
On the SECOND bite, he showed signs of being drunk?
So really, this is all about proper dosage…
I got me some experimentin’ to do 🙂
Ooooh… Shrooms.
Stick with your friend, the Psilocybe (especially azurescens, cyanescens, and cubensis – the first two found growing in the wild here in the rainy NW. .. the last one found in your local hippies’ pocket and likely homegrown)
Though, the Siberian variant of the Amanita Muscaria kinda sound like fun. . .if you want to emulate a berserker going into battle with a head-full of drunken, psychedelic hallucinations. GOOD Times!
“José Manuel Hidalgo”
ironically his name roughly translates to:
“believer of man made global warming”
funny how his name reflects his inability to discern facts…
#7 – if we’re going to blame anyone, we might as well blame stupid people like this. They probably are the biggest emitter of hot CO2 anyway.
I personally eat a lot of wild mushrooms that I pick myself..
But those are the wrong ones to try and start with.. Amanitas are not a beginners group. Most false edible mushrooms will just make you sick.. but you screw up with Amanitas and your done.. xxx..
O.K. ya know what.. never mind.. all mushrooms are poisonous.. don’ t pick and eat wild mushrooms unless your an expert.. or you buy them from the store, and don’t ask how to become an expert..
Money’s Mushrooms, Make Meals Marvelous!
see this is why literacy is a good thing… I bet thay showed him literature describing what would happen – but like a typical spanish speaking moron – he didnt buy it – because he couldnt read
Pardon me for noticing but José seems to have the same attitude towards mushrooms that the the neo-cons and extreme liberals contributing to this blog have towards global warming, taxes, Hillary, guns, the war, the President, religion, etcetera – with very similar results: drunkenness, then languorous stupor.
Hopefully, your livers haven’t suffered any damage.
Cinaedh – Bad boy… trying to turn this into a political discussion.
#13 hhopper
It was just an observation. The mushroom guy refused to accept reality over ill-considered opinion and he got a dead fish Darwin Award.
Frankly, I don’t see the difference in cause and effect, neh?
I really do hope their livers are OK!
I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure if you stick to the “spongey” looking morels you are in no danger. Here’s a pic:
http://209.35.182.48/snowmo/photos/070519paa.jpg
It’s the smooth ones which could be either healthy or deadly.
This is why I avoid mushrooms entirely. All I need is to unwittingly encounter at a restaurant a disgrunted cook. A little bit of amanita mushroom and bingo I’m on the liver transplant waiting list.