A resident of YM, who suffered from severe headaches due to cerebral hemorrhage, arrived late at the hospital - and his life was saved • Doctors: "When there are abnormal signs, you have to go to the emergency room immediately"

Arrived late for emergency due to fear of Corona - suffering from a brain hemorrhage that nearly led to his death: Many hospitals report patients' failure to attend and cases of real life threatening patients who stay home because of the corona.

Photo: Ministry of Health

Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem this week came a man (43) with no background illness, who suffered from intense headaches for about a week. The examination revealed that the cause of the pain was a cerebral aneurysm (an expansion of blood vessels that could cause their rupture), which developed into life-threatening bleeding.

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Eyal, from the Beit Hakerem neighborhood of Jerusalem, defines himself as a healthy person. He is accustomed to running every 10 km every day. Despite his "unbearable" headaches as he defined, he tried to continue his routine, worked, cared for his children who were at home and ran, which probably led to aggravating the aneurysm. 

"I did not think I had a serious and dangerous medical problem. On the other hand, the pain I suffered was exceptional and made it very difficult for me to function in daily operations. The patients and the deaths from the virus, and from my point of view, the risk of arriving at the hospital was higher - something that turned out to be a total mistake that could leave a widow and orphaned children. " 

Dr. Jacob Amsalem, director of the brain catheterisation unit at Sha'arei Zedek Medical Center, who treated Eyal, said: "Eyal arrived in the 90th minute. An urgent MRI that we performed showed hemorrhage in the brainstem and a rupture of the same artery in the brain that causes damage to the blood supply to the brainstem and can lead to disability and even death. The rupture required immediate treatment, and an urgent catheterization was performed. " 

Dr. Amsalem notes that non-transient headaches should be a significant warning sign: "These days we are witnessing many cases where patients are refraining from medical treatment. Many cases of death at home. There are some diseases that are not waiting for the corona virus to pass. If any abnormal signs are felt, you have to go to the hospital immediately to get treatment. "