The human body is a miracle. But when it’s not working, it can be the stuff of nightmares. On this new series from master storyteller MrBallen, we’re sharing medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are surgically calibrated to make your blood run cold.From bizarre, unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths — you’ll never hear the phrase “heart-stopping” in the same way again. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between MrBallen and Wondery, the award-winning company behind Dr. Death.Follow MrBallen's Medical Mysteries on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes publish for free every Tuesday. Prime members can binge episodes 57-64 early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Wondery+ subscribers can listen ad-free--join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.
94 episodes transcribedIn December 1979, young women all over Wisconsin fall ill with a mysterious disease that starts with a bright red rash – and sometimes leads...
A doctor in the early 1900s is tasked with discovering the cause of a sometimes-fatal disease ravaging the American South. But in order to fi...
A 9-year-old girl in Hawaii suddenly loses vision in one eye, and nobody knows why. And by the time she gets an answer, it might be too late...
“Look Closely”A teenage boy suddenly falls into critical condition while on vacation with his family in Orlando, Florida. When his doctors fi...
When a woman’s five-year-old son in Niagara Falls, New York, suddenly develops epilepsy, she becomes determined to figure out what made him s...
A mother in Fresno, California races her young son to the emergency room after he goes limp and his eyes roll back in his head. It turns out,...
A semi-pro tennis player nearly drowns in the pool when she suffers sudden, cramping pain in her midsection. Her doctors fear she has cancer,...
In the summer of 1999, a mysterious outbreak rages through New York City, paralyzing and even killing its victims. Doctors scramble for a sol...
A young woman working on a fishing vessel in Alaska begins experiencing a strange burning sensation in her eye. What she finds inside her eye...
In the summer of 1846, a young doctor is thrilled to join Austria’s prestigious Vienna General Hospital. But he soon discovers that new mothe...
“Gut Instinct”In the summer of 2021, a doctor celebrates his retirement with a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. But shortly after he gets ba...
On Christmas Day, 2008, a surfer living in Hawaii wakes up with a splitting headache and itching all over his body. Soon, the man is comatose...
In 2012, a healthy high school volleyball star suddenly has to fight for every breath she takes. Within a few weeks, she’s on the list for mu...
In 2007, a worker at a pork processing plant in Minnesota suffers nerve damage so severe that he can no longer move his legs. Within a few mo...
“Life in Paradise”In 1993, a man living in a retirement community in Tennessee falls ill with what he thinks is the flu. But, within hours, h...
In 1944, nearly a dozen men show up at a hospital in New York. All are violently ill and passing out – and they all have bright blue skin. A...
In 1983, an Italian man finds himself completely unable to sleep, and when he looks in the mirror, his own eyes frighten him. A sense of doom...
In September 2007, a meteor strike leaves a massive crater in the high Peruvian desert, drawing curiosity seekers from miles around. Shortly...
Throughout the United States, the summer of 1976 is a celebration of two hundred years as a nation. That is, until attendees of a veterans’ c...
In late 2002, a 26-year-old single mother and her children take a DNA test as part of a welfare application. The results are shocking: they s...
