If parents of teenagers are looking for a cautionary tale, then this one should do the trick.
17-year-old Julio Macias Gonzalez from Mexico City passed away back in July from a stroke possibly caused by a hickey given to him by his 24-year-old girlfriend.
The Independent reports that Gonzalez started having convulsions during a family dinner, then died.
The girlfriend is in hiding because his family didn’t approve of the age difference in their relationship, but Gonzalez refused to break up with her.
Apparently the girlfriend sucked so hard on Gonzalez’s neck that it caused a blot clot that traveled to his brain, causing the stroke.
Now, the poor thing is probably on the town’s most-wanted list for “Death By Forbidden Love.”
Historically, hickeys have only caused bruises or red marks to the skin (and of course, a bit of bashfulness after the fact), but there have been a few reports of more serious incidents.
The Huffington Post cited a 2011 case that was written up in the New Zealand Medical journal about a 44-year-old woman who had to be hospitalized after “losing movement under her arm.”
It took doctors awhile to determine what happened, but only after they noticed a bruise on her neck.
At that point, they were able to figure out that the person responsible for the hickey sucked on a major artery, which then created a blood clot that went to her heart, causing a minor stroke.
Fortunately, the woman survived.
Dr Teddy Wu of Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital wrote the report after treating the woman, and stated that to his knowledge ” it’s the first time someone has been hospitalised by a hickey.”
PS – A hickey is internationally known as a “love bite.”
So, children, the next time your lover wants to sneak off for a make-out session, just keep things above the chin.
