Everybody loves some good Chinese food! But this unlucky 19 year old who had eaten leftover rice, chicken, and lo mein experienced some awful memories from this spoiled food. Gabriela Miranda and his friend who had eaten the same meal were vomiting shortly after their meal of leftovers. However, Gabriela’s friend got better after throwing up once while the student continued to have symptoms.

He was vomiting, experiencing stomach pain, muscle pain, weakness, and chills. It soon escalated eventually giving him chest pain, blurred vision, neck stiffness, and even skin discoloration. In less than 24 hours, he went to the hospital. By that time, Miranda actually had a fever of 105 and his heart rate was also extremely high. His skin then quickly went from discolored to purplish rashes that covered almost his entire body.

The tissue in his side began to go away and the doctors needed to amputate his two legs below the knee and even parts of all of his fingers. This young man was officially diagnosed with sepsis. This is a potentially deadly disease when your body’s response to an infection damages your own tissues. This can cause your organs to not function properly or cause them to function poorly.

Leftovers can really have an impact on you – as we can see. So, what are some things to remember when saving this food so you won’t need to have your legs amputated?

From the Food and Drug Administration:

• Bacteria grow rapidly at temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes.
• Never leave food unrefrigerated for more than two hours.
• If the temperature is above 90 degrees, do not leave food out for more than one hour.
• Keep hot food at or above 140 degrees.
• Keep cold food at or below 40 degrees.
• Cover leftovers in storage containers or wrap in airtight packaging.