Ep. 86 | Out of This World/A Good Scrub Down

Summary

MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries: Episode 86 | "Out of This World/A Good Scrub Down"

Release Date: May 27, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 86 of MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries, host Mr. Ballin delves into two truly bizarre medical cases that challenge our understanding of the human body and its interactions with the unknown. This episode, titled "Out of This World/A Good Scrub Down," explores an enigmatic skeletal discovery in the Chilean desert and a perplexing eye infection linked to an unusual pet tarantula. Through meticulous storytelling and expert insights, Mr. Ballin unravels these medical mysteries, blending scientific investigations with captivating narratives.

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Story 1: Out of This World

Discovery in the Atacama Desert

At [05:00], Mr. Ballin introduces Carlos Ocampo, a treasure hunter in the desolate expanse of Chile's Atacama Desert. On a scorching summer day in 2003, Carlos unearths a peculiar artifact: a tiny, human-shaped skeleton wrapped in yellowed linen. Measuring only six inches from head to toe, the skeleton's oversized head with large eye sockets sparks immediate speculation.

Mr. Ballin [06:45]: "Normally, I didn't believe in extraterrestrials, but the skeleton's proportions looked a lot like the typical depiction of a space alien."

Initial Speculations and Media Frenzy

Nine years after Carlos's discovery, in 2012, the skeleton—dubbed "Ata"—captures widespread attention when UFO expert Dr. Stephen Greer declares it as evidence of alien life. The appearance of Ata, combined with the lack of genetic analysis at the time, fuels rampant speculation about its extraterrestrial origins.

Dr. Grant Nash’s Investigation

By [12:30], immunologist Dr. Grant Nash steps into the fray, prompted by his friend Dr. Stephen Simpson, who shares a photograph of Ata. Skeptical yet intrigued, Dr. Nash offers his expertise in genetics to uncover Ata's true origins.

Dr. Grant Nash [15:20]: "According to the data, Ata was not a space alien. She was a little human girl with DNA from both native indigenous Chilean people as well as Europeans."

DNA Testing and Shocking Revelations

After rigorous DNA analysis, Dr. Nash reveals that Ata is indeed human, having been born post-1500s due to European colonization. However, several anomalies persist:

• [18:00] Ata's head shape and missing ribs remain unexplained.
• [19:50] Further genetic studies identify millions of mutations, suggesting severe birth defects that could account for her unusual appearance.

Controversy and Ongoing Mysteries

Despite Dr. Nash's findings, controversy ensues. A New Zealand study contradicts the genetic anomalies, suggesting Ata was a 15-week-old fetus with standard development disrupted by premature birth. Meanwhile, debates about the ethical handling of Ata's remains by the Chilean government and private collectors continue.

Mr. Ballin [25:10]: "Despite the controversy, Dr. Nash and his team stood by their findings, emphasizing the need for further research to fully understand Ata's condition."

Current Status

As of 2018, Ata's skeleton remains in Spain, owned by a private collector, with no resolution on her final resting place. The case underscores the complexities of genetic anomalies and the persistent allure of extraterrestrial mysteries.

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Story 2: A Good Scrub Down

Nick Stewart’s Routine Turns Awry

Shifting focus at [27:00], Mr. Ballin narrates the story of Nick Stewart from Leeds, England. In January 2009, after a week-long work grind, Nick decides to clean his kitchen and pet tarantula's terrarium. Unbeknownst to him, this routine cleaning would lead to a severe and mysterious eye infection.

Initial Symptoms and Misdiagnosis

Nick notices discomfort in his right eye—swelling, redness, and sensitivity to light. A visit to his primary care physician leads to a diagnosis of conjunctivitis (pink eye), and he's prescribed antibiotic cream.

Mr. Ballin [30:15]: "He was relieved it was nothing more serious, but weeks later, his symptoms worsened."

Escalation and Specialist Intervention

Three weeks later, Nick's condition deteriorates, prompting a visit to ophthalmologist Dr. John Camden. Despite initial thoughts of a viral infection, a closer examination reveals an unexpected culprit: tiny, hair-like structures embedded deep within his eye.

Dr. John Camden [35:50]: "I realized very likely the cause behind all this discomfort were these hairs."

Unraveling the Mystery

Nick recounts his cleaning experience, revealing that his pet tarantula had fired a mist of barbed hairs—a common defense mechanism for his spider breed—during the cleaning process. These microscopic hairs penetrated his eye, leading to a rare condition known as Ophthalmia nodosa.

Diagnosis and Long-Term Effects

Due to the minuscule size of the hairs, surgical removal proved impossible. Dr. Camden prescribed steroid drops to alleviate inflammation, but many hairs remained lodged in Nick's eye. As a result:

• Persistent mild discomfort
• Occasional floaters described as white spots or cobwebs in his vision

Nick now serves as a cautionary tale about the hidden dangers of exotic pets and the complexities of ocular injuries.

Mr. Ballin [45:20]: "They serve as a permanent reminder for Nick to wear safety goggles whenever he cleans his pet tarantula's tank."

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Conclusion

Episode 86 of MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries masterfully intertwines tales of ancient enigmas and modern peculiarities, highlighting the unpredictable nature of medical mysteries. From the debunked alien skeleton Ata to the inadvertent injuries caused by a beloved pet tarantula, these stories emphasize the intricate and often surprising ways the human body interacts with its environment. As Mr. Ballin navigates through these narratives, listeners are reminded of the thin line between the known and the unknown in the realm of medical science.

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Notable Quotes

• Mr. Ballin [06:45]: "Normally, I didn't believe in extraterrestrials, but the skeleton's proportions looked a lot like the typical depiction of a space alien."

• Dr. Grant Nash [15:20]: "According to the data, Ata was not a space alien. She was a little human girl with DNA from both native indigenous Chilean people as well as Europeans."

• Mr. Ballin [25:10]: "Despite the controversy, Dr. Nash and his team stood by their findings, emphasizing the need for further research to fully understand Ata's condition."

• Mr. Ballin [30:15]: "He was relieved it was nothing more serious, but weeks later, his symptoms worsened."

• Dr. John Camden [35:50]: "I realized very likely the cause behind all this discomfort were these hairs."

• Mr. Ballin [45:20]: "They serve as a permanent reminder for Nick to wear safety goggles whenever he cleans his pet tarantula's tank."

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Final Thoughts

Through compelling storytelling and a focus on real medical cases, Mr. Ballin not only entertains but also educates his audience about the myriad ways the human body can surprise us. Whether confronting ancient mysteries or everyday mishaps, MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries continues to shine a light on the extraordinary tales hidden within our biology.

Transcript

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Hey prime members. You can listen to new episodes of Mr. Bolland's Medical Mysteries early and ad free. Download the Amazon Music app today.

[Mr. Ballin]

This show is all about the strange and surprising things that can happen to the human body, so you always expect the unexpected. But in today's episode, the subjects of our two stories are truly bizarre. In our first story, a trailer, a treasure hunter in the Chilean desert finds an ancient artifact that is so strange and so otherworldly it takes an entire medical team just to determine what it is and where it came from. And in our second story, a man's eye becomes infected with what almost seems like alien tendrils. The show is brought to you by Progressive Fiscally responsible financial geniuses Monetary Magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary.

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[Mr. Ballin]

From Ballin Studios and Wondery I'm Mr. Ballin and this is Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries, where every week we will explore a new baffling mystery originating from the one place we all can't escape our own bodies. So if you like today's story, please sneak into the Follow Buttons house and flip all their batteries around inside of their TV remotes. And now here's our first story called out of this World. On a blazing hot summer day in 2003, a man named Carlos Ocampo took a long drink from his water bottle. He had spent the last four hours digging for treasure in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile. He was searching around an abandoned church in a ghost town called La Noria. He was looking for artifacts left behind by the mine workers of the last century. Collectors paid good money for the tools, the clothes, and the other items that were abandoned here as much as 100 years ago. Carlos was completely alone. Nothing moved except the lizards and small rodents that scurried for shade behind the rocks and piles of rubble. Between the hot wind, the silence, and the lonely, rocky landscape, Carlos might as well have been walking on the surface of another planet. Carlos took a final drink from his canteen and sighed. He was out of water, and he knew it was time to call it a day. But as he turned over one last pile of dirt with a shovel, he spotted a piece of leather in the rubble. He dug it up and realized it was some kind of small pouch. When he dusted it off and reached inside of it, he pulled out this bundle of old yellowed linen. And when he unfurled the linen, he found what looked like a doll inside of the cloth. But as he looked closer, he realized it was no doll. It was this tiny human shaped skeleton, all brown and dried out. It was completely intact and looked like at one point it had been alive. But it was only about 6 inches long from top to toe, the length of the pen Carlos had in his pocket. As he carefully turned the skeleton over in his hands, he could see a well defined rib cage, two arms and two legs, all held together by a complete spinal column. But it was the oversized head on the top of the body that really made Carlos feel uncomfortable. It had two giant eye sockets that were much larger than he had ever seen on the head of a human baby. This creature also had an enormous forehead, while its chin came to a point, giving the head an oddly triangular shape. Carlos wondered if what he was holding was even human. Usually, he didn't believe in extraterrestrials, but he couldn't help but notice that the skeleton's giant head and gaping eye sockets looked a lot like the typical depiction of a space alien. Carlos wrapped the tiny skeleton back up and carefully placed it inside of his backpack. And then he smiled. Because whatever the skeleton was, he was sure it would fetch a whole lot of money in 2012. Nine years after Carlos made the discovery in Chile, an immunologist named Dr. Grant Nash sat at a bar in Palo Alto, California, with his friend and fellow doctor Stephen Simpson. Dr. Nash finished his beer while Dr. Simpson scrolled through his phone, looking for a very specific picture. The two doctors liked to meet up for darts and a couple of beers on the weekends. Dr. Stimson was a bit of a space exploration geek, and he liked to update Dr. Nash on the latest NASA missions. But tonight, he wanted to talk about something else. According to Dr. Simpson, there were rumors going around that someone had discovered a fully intact alien skeleton. Dr. Nash was skeptical. But after a moment, Dr. Simpson had found the photo he was looking for. And when Dr. Nash saw the image of a tiny humanoid skeleton with bizarre proportions, his jaw dropped. The bar they were in had gotten crowded and noisy, and so the two of them moved to a quiet corner where Dr. Nash could examine the image more closely. He quizzed his friend on the full story of the skeleton. Dr. Simpson told him that researchers were now calling the skeleton Atta, short for the Atacama region in Chile where it was found. This skeleton was so unusual that a collector in Spain had bought the specimen at first sight. Dr. Simpson said that as far as he knew, no genetic experts had been consulted to determine where the skeleton had come from. So with no hard evidence, speculation was now running wild. Was this a newly discovered species of ancient human? Or possibly, could Atta be an alien being from another galaxy? One prominent UFO expert certainly thought so. He was so intrigued with Atta that he was making a documentary about the skeleton. His name was Dr. Stephen Greer, an ER physician turned ufologist, which is someone who studies UFOs and all things extraterrestrial. Due to the skeleton's small size and peculiar shaped head, Dr. Greer seemed absolutely certain that Ato was the skeleton of an alien life form. And Dr. Nash couldn't blame him. The skeleton was so well formed, it seemed like it had to have belonged to a being who had lived at least a few years. But it was so tiny, only 6 inches long. No human that small could ever survive outside the womb. On top of that, there were other indications that ATA could be an extraterrestrial, from its elongated head to the fact that ATA had fewer ribs than a normal human. Dr. Nash wasn't ready to fully buy into the idea that Atta was an alien yet, but he did feel like there were legitimate questions that needed answers. So the next day, Dr. Nash did a little Internet sleuthing and emailed the producers of the documentary. Although he Worked as an immunologist. Dr. Nash had a PhD in genetics. He offered his expertise in that field to help determine where ATA came from. And after some discussion, the producers of the documentary and the skeleton's owner agreed to let Dr. Nash try. Several weeks later, Dr. Nash waited inside of a crowded conference room right down the hall from his lab at Stanford University. The room was packed with scientists, reporters, and cameras, all there to hear the results of Dr. Nash's DNA testing of ATTA's skeleton. After signing multiple confidentiality agreements with the private collector, Dr. Nash and his team had received bone marrow samples from Anta's ribs and also right upper arm bone. Once all the legal formalities were completed, the actual testing only took a few weeks. But then they kept the results quiet. Until now. The big reveal. The usually quiet halls of the research lab buzzed like a school cafeteria as they waited for Dr. Nash to begin. But he was waiting for his friend, Dr. Simpson. Dr. Nash wasn't about to let his friend miss out on the big test results. Finally, Dr. Simpson came through the door, and Dr. Nash walked to the podium to give his report. He told the room he had tested Atta's DNA against multiple strains of known DNA, human and animal. He revealed that he even used the DNA from his own blood as part of the control sample. He said that there were still many questions about Atta that DNA alone could not answer. But the DNA sample he analyzed had settled the biggest question on everyone's minds. And unfortunately, it was not the results everybody was hoping for. According to the data, Ata was not a space alien. She was a little human girl with DNA from both native indigenous Chilean people as well as Europeans. That meant she had to have been born sometime after 1500, when Europeans colonized what is now South America and began reproducing with local people. Dr. Nash could feel the disappointment in the room now that he had ruled out the possibility of alien life. But he reminded everyone that there were still so many things to learn about Ata, such as, why was her head so elongated and strange? Was it really possible for a human that small to survive outside the womb? And if her skeleton was so complete, well, why was she missing ribs? As everyone's murmurs of disappointment turned into a spirited discussion, Dr. Nash swore he was not going to stop digging until he figured out everything there was to learn about Ata. But to find those answers, he knew he would need to bring in some more experts. A few weeks later, Dr. Nash sat with his colleague, Dr. Ben Hoffman, watching an image of Ada's tiny skeleton rotate on a computer screen. Dr. Hoffman was an expert in hereditary bone diseases, and Dr. Nash had asked him to take a look at Atta. But his findings only led to more questions than answers. What Dr. Hoffman was telling him just didn't make any sense. According to him, Atta's bones showed signs of development that were typical of a six year old human. Dr. Nash was baffled. He thought Ata might have somehow survived for maybe a short period after her birth. But how could this tiny being, no longer than a dollar bill, have lived for six entire years? Dr. Hoffman had to admit that he wasn't sure. He explained that there were genetic diseases that caused overdevelopment of bones, a kind of premature aging, if you will, that could have made Ata seem older than she actually was when she died. Those were the anomalies he was looking for. In Atta's case. However, so far, the testing had come up empty for any of those diseases. The more they discovered about Ata, the harder it was to know what happened to her. And he didn't have any answers about the strange shape of atta's head either. Dr. Nash realized that to learn the entire truth about Ata, he would have to go even deeper into her genes. After he finished consulting with Dr. Hoffman, Dr. Nash next convinced a renowned geneticist to undertake the tedious process of examining Atta's entire genome, which is composed of millions of tiny snippets of genetic material. This review would provide far more details about her ancestry. But it is an exceedingly slow process to do this. It would take another five more years for Ada's secrets to be revealed. Researchers discovered a staggering 3 million small mutations in Ada's genome when compared to an ordinary person. And at least 64 of these mutations were astonishingly rare and could have very easily combined to create Ada's strange appearance. And so, armed with this extensive genetic profile, Dr. Nash was finally ready to reveal Ada's story to the world. Ada, it was clear, had suffered extensive birth defects. The researchers found seven specific genetic mutations that combined to give her the pointy head, wide, slanted eyes and pointed chin. She also had a serious birth defect that damaged her diaphragm, the muscle beneath the lungs that plays a crucial role in breathing. The researchers couldn't say why Ada's skeleton looked like that of a six year old, but they agreed it is highly unlikely she actually lived nearly that long. Dr. Nash speculated that a genetic disease could have caused her skeleton to develop abnormally quickly while she was in the womb. He said that Ada had likely died in the womb before being delivered which is why her skeleton was so small. Nash concluded that even if Ata lived long enough to be born alive, her lack of a proper diaphragm would have kept her from being able to eat or breathe well enough to survive. But that wasn't the only bombshell about ata. Despite the fact that Ata looked like she had been mummified, Tess showed that she was not centuries old. In fact, Ata had been born in the 1970s, less than 40 years before her skeleton was actually discovered. In other words, far from being an ancient space alien, Ata was a modern human child who had the misfortune of suffering fatal birth defects. Within days of Dr. Nash's research being published, the Chilean government came out and condemned the ethics around how the study was conducted. Although they didn't dispute Dr. Nash's findings, the Chilean government was not happy about how Atas remains had been exhumed and taken out of the country for analysis. And not everyone accepted the American scientists findings. A separate group from New Zealand conducted their own 2018 study that found no signs of major birth defects. They concluded that Ata was basically normal and her skeleton was at the same developmental stage as a 15 week fetus. They concluded that her head could have become disfigured during a premature birth. And yes, there are still people out there who believe ATA is an alien. As proof, they point to the initial tests that showed only 92% of ADA's DNA matched a human's. However, later tests challenge that claim. Most of the DNA that didn't seem human had simply been degraded from Atas decades of lying out in the desert. Dr. Nasch and his colleagues stood by their findings, but they agreed with their critics. On one point, they agreed that Ata should be returned to her homeland so she could be properly buried. Sadly, though, it does not seem like their calls have yet been heeded. As of 2018, Atas skeleton still remains somewhere in Spain, in the possession of the collector who bought her.

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[Mr. Ballin]

And now for our second story called A Good Scrub Down On a Saturday morning In January of 2009 in Leeds, England, 29 year old Nick Stewart put on his favorite record and filled his electric teakettle. He'd had a long, tiring week at work and he was ready to enjoy a nice, relaxed morning before meeting some friends for lunch. While he waited for the water to boil, he walked over to the terrarium in his kitchen to check on his pet tarantula. Nick knew the hairy spider was an unusual pet, but he'd always loved tarantulas. He spent the next few minutes watching the spider dig a burrow and line it with silk in a corner of the terrarium. And that's about the time when he noticed some grime on the inside of the glass and knew the tank was due for a cleaning. In fact, as he looked around his own place, he realized he should probably spend the morning cleaning up instead of spending it on the couch. Once his tea was ready, Nick took a sip and then began on the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. An hour later, he'd wiped down countertops, cleaned out the fridge, put away the dishes, and scrubbed down his tarantula's terrarium. The kitchen was looking good, but Nick's right eye felt weird. It was stinging. Nick went to the bathroom to get a better look in the mirror. His right eye was swollen and bloodshot. He wondered if at some point during his cleaning spree he'd accidentally rubbed his face with a cleaning product because his right eye was really hurting. Now he turned on the faucet to scoop some water into his eye, which seemed to help a little. But the eye was still so sore. So he just went to lie down for a while, figuring that whatever was bothering him would probably clear up with some rest. A few days later, Nick sat on a doctor's examination table with his right eye clenched shut. The eye was still watery and red, and now it was sensitive to light. Even the overhead lights in his doctor's office felt too bright. The doctor told Nick to open up his right eye. Then he tried to inspect it with a pen light, but Nick flinched as soon as the doctor shone the light into his pupil. He apologized to the doctor and tried his best to force his eye open, but it was itchy and stinging and he just couldn't do it. And so, in order to keep his eye open, the doctor had to use a device called a speculum that helped push Nick's eyelids away from his eye. Nick gritted his teeth as his doctor aimed the pen light over the surface of his eye. It burned so badly that Nick could feel his tear duct welling up and water streaming down his face. The doctor finally, mercifully clicked off his pen light, and Nick closed his right eye again, feeling instant relief. The doctor said there was some good news. Nick was actually suffering from a common conjunctivitis, or pink eye. Pink eye occurs when the thin, clear membrane that covers the eye and the inside of the eyelid gets inflamed. It can be caused by bacteria or a virus, or even an allergic reaction. Either way, it explained why Nick's eye was bright pink and irritated. The doctor told him that pretty soon his eye would actually start discharging. Yellow or greenish pus, but that was normal. It sounded gross to Nick, but he was relieved it was nothing more serious. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic cream for him to use around his eye. He warned Nick that he would be contagious for a few days and so should just stay home at least until the redness cleared up. But he'd be fine soon enough and could go back to his normal routine. Three weeks later, an ophthalmologist or eye doctor, Dr. John Camden, stepped into an exam room to meet his new patient, a young man named Nick. Nick was sitting hunched in his chair, his right eye still red and watery. He was clearly in severe discomfort. Nick said that his right eye had been painfully inflamed for the better part of a month. Ever since he cleaned his apartment one Saturday morning, he'd been using this antibiotic cream that his doctor had prescribed for pinkeye but it didn't help. His eye was still swollen and still sensitive to light. And now his vision was getting blurry, too. And occasionally, these black specks would appear in his vision. And sometimes the specks would look almost gray, like translucent strings floating around. Dr. Camden promised he would figure out what was going on. First, he tested Nick's visual acuity, which is the eye's ability to see fine details. And he found that the vision in Nick's right eye was significantly worse than his left. Which made sense, because that was the eye that was inflamed. But Dr. Camden wanted a closer look. He placed eye drops in Nick's eyes to dilate his pupils, then had Nick sit down in front of a specialized microscope. That let Dr. Camden see a magnified version of Nick's eye both inside and out. He had Nick place his head against a chin rest and forehead support and then shone a bright light directly into Nick's eye. He knew the light was bothering Nick, so he did his best to move quickly. As he focused the microscope, Dr. Camden examined the front of Nick's eyes. And right away, he noticed something interesting about his right eye. The blood vessels were inflamed, with scattered white spots all around the eye. Those symptoms were consistent with a viral infection called keratoconjunctivitis, an extreme form of pink eye. And that could be a big problem for Nick. The virus that causes keratoconjunctivitis could permanently damage Nick's eye. It could also attack other parts of his body, including his respiratory tract, his gastrointestinal system, even his kidneys and urinary tract. Dr. Camden felt like he'd seen enough to make a diagnosis. But just as he was about to turn off the microscope, something else caught his attention. He told Nick to hang on for just another few seconds. There was something strange in Nick's right eye. He refocused his instrument. And then he saw what looked like a cluster of tiny spears sticking out of the surface of Nick's eyeball. He zoomed in even closer and realized these little spears looked like hair. Dr. Camden was shocked. He realized that very likely the cause behind all this discomfort were these hairs. On one hand, that was good news. It meant Nick very likely did not have a virus. But that also left Dr. Camden with two questions. Where did these hairs come from? And how much damage had they caused? He knew he would need to have a closer look.

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[Mr. Ballin]

Dr. Camden gave Nick drops to fully dilate his eyes and numb the surface so that he could shine a light bright enough to see Nick's retina all the way at the back of the eye. Twenty minutes later, once Nick was ready, he put his face back onto the chin Rest and Dr. Camden turned on the lamp. As he focused the microscope on Nick's retina, he noticed two things. First, some of these tiny hairs had clearly penetrated deep into into Nick's eye, passing through the cornea that protects the eyeball surface and nearly reaching his retina. The hairs were embedded so far back that Dr. Camden wasn't sure he could even remove them. Second, Nick's retina itself was irritated and inflamed, a condition called retinitis. If left untreated, retinitis could cause Nick to lose vision in that eye. Dr. Camden knew that if he wanted to save Nick's vision, he needed to get those tiny hairs out of his eye as soon as possible. And so he told Nick that He needed to figure out what they were and where they came from. He asked Nick if he had any ideas. Nick thought for a moment and then suddenly this look of realization dawned on his face. And then he went into detail about his cleaning spree the previous month, around the time his eye first got irritated. He told the doctor that during this cleaning spree he had noticed there was this stain on the inside of the glass terrarium that housed his pet tarantula. And while he had his hand in there cleaning the stain, his pet tarantula came running out and fired a mist of tiny hairs that hit Nick in his eyes and face. His breed of tarantula was one of many that shot these fine barbed hairs at any perceived threat as a self defense mechanism. At the time, Nick said he didn't think much of it because he'd had tarantulas before and he'd seen them do this and it never was a big deal and he didn't feel anything. After Hearing Nick's story, Dr. Camden diagnosed him with Ophthalmia nodosa, a condition where the eye is damaged by insect or vegetable materials, and then he told Nick they would try their best to surgically remove the hairs. Unfortunately, though, the hairs were too small for even Dr. Camden's micro forceps to grab, so he wound up prescribing steroid drops to help coax the hairs out of Nick's eye. The eye drops help somewhat, but many of the hairs never dislodged. To this day, Nick lives with tarantula hairs buried in his right eye. They cause him mild discomfort and occasionally create floaters in his field of vision, which can appear as white spots or even sometimes cobwebs. They serve as a permanent reminder for Nick to wear safety goggles whenever he cleans his pet Tarantula's tank.

[Narrator]

Follow Mr. Bolland's medical mysteries on the Wondery app, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of Mr. Bolland's Medical Mysteries early and ad free right now by joining Wondry in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or by listening on Amazon Music with your prime membership. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] survey.

[Sherry Papini]

From.

[Mr. Ballin]

Ballin Studios and Wondry. This is Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries hosted by me, Mr. Ballin a quick note about our stories. They are all inspired by true events, but we do sometimes use pseudonyms to protect the people involved and also some details are fictionalized for dramatic purposes and a reminder the content in this episode is not intended to be a substitute for for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This episode was written by Alison Taylor and Aaron Lan. Our editor is Heather Dundas. Sound design is by Matthew Chilelli. Our senior managing producer is Callum Plews and our coordinating producer is Sarah Mathis. Our senior producer is Alex Benidon. Our associate producers and researchers are Sarah Vitak and Teja Palakonda. Fact checking was done by Sheila Patterson for Ballin Studios. Our head of production is Zach Levitt. Script editing by Scott Allen and Evan Allen. Our coordinating producer is Samantha Collins. Production support by Avery Siegel. Executive producers are myself, Mr. Ballin and Nick Witters for Wondry. Our head of sound is Marcelino Villapando. Senior producers are Laura, Donna Palavotta and Dave Schilling. Senior managing producer is Ryan Lohr and our executive producers are Aaron o' Flaherty and Marshall Louis.

[Mike Corey]

Hey, I'm Mike Corey, the host of Wondery's podcast Against the Odds. In each episode, we take you to the edge of some of the most incredible adventure and survival stories in history. In our next season, it's 1980, and in the Pacific Northwest, the long dormant volcano Mount St. Helens is showing signs of life. Scientists warn that a big eruption is coming, but a restricted zone around the mountain is limited by politics. On May 18, hikers, loggers, reporters and researchers are caught in the blast zone. As the volcano erupts, they find themselves pummeled by a deadly combination of scorching heat, smothering ash and massive mudslides. The survivors have to find their way to safety before they succumb to their injuries or face another eruption. Follow against the Odds on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge the entire season ad free right now only on Wondery Plus. Start your free trial in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Today.