Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Homemade Dialysis Machine Keeps Man Alive for 13 Years

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 04:55 AM PST

A man from Nanjing, China, has recently made headlines after it was discovered he built his own dialysis machine, and managed to keep himself alive for 13 years, after he couldn’t afford to receive proper hospital care.

A research fro 2008, shows only one in ten Chinese people can afford regular dialysis treatment, but one man refused to give in to his illness simply because he couldn’t pay the high hospital costs. Hu Songwen was studying to become a meteorologist when he was diagnosed with renal failure, in 1993. From that point on, he was forced to visit the hospital every six days to have his blood cleaned through dialysis, a treatment that cost him around $80 per visit. He hand his family managed to support the costs for six years, until all their savings were exhausted. That’s when he decided to build his own dialysis machine, using only a textbook, kitchen equipment and medical supplies. ”When I told the doctors what I was doing, they said I was crazy,” he said, but his homemade contraption has kept him alive for the last 13 years, at a fraction of the hospital costs. He spent an initial $800 on a pump, after failed attempts to make his own, and now each dialysis session costs him around $10 in filters and chemicals. ”The most important part of the machine is the filter, and I can use each one eight times. A new filter costs $16, while a proper medical machine can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds” Hu said.

Photo: China Photo Press

“As long as you have a high school degree, understand the principle of dialysis, follow the operational instructions and keep a close watch during the process, nothing should go wrong,” Hu told the Southern Weekly newspaper. He did mention two of his friends have died after using similar homemade dialysis machines, but that has never deterred him from continuing the self-administered treatment. His invention works as an external kidney. It’s made up of two compartments separated by a membrane filter that allows only some particles to get through  The machine is connected to his arm via a couple of tubes; the bad blood goes out through one tube, and enters his body through the other, after it was filtered. The dialysis fluid by mixing potassium chloride, sodium chloride and sodium hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate) into purified water. Doctors have warned Hu about the risk of serious infection and other complications by not using sterile water, but the man who still lives in his mother’s home says his options are limited.

Photo: China Photo Press

Thanks to his story getting published in the press, Hu Songwen was offered medical aid by the Chinese Government, but although this financial aid would bring the cost of hospital treatment down to his current spending, the man says he is still reluctant to switch because the nearest hospital is too far away, and very crowded.

Sources: The Telegraph, China Daily

Homemade Dialysis Machine Keeps Man Alive for 13 Years was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Insanely Complicated Maze Is Probably Impossible to Solve

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 03:39 AM PST

It looks like the street map of a really complex city of the future, but this intricate drawing is really a 30-year-old maze drawn by a Japanese janitor. His daughter posted photos of the complicated work on Twitter, which went viral almost instantly.

Just last year, we posted an article about the efforts of Joe Wos, a Pittsburgh-based cartoonist who was working on the world’s largest most difficult hand-drawn maze. He worked on it from July until the end of September, and estimated that a person would need approximately 40 hours to solve it. His doodle-filled maze is truly something to behold, but I doubt it’s more challenging than the one created by Twitter user @Kya7y‘s father. Drawn on an A1 sheet of paper measuring 35 by 23.3 inches, this multi-layered masterpiece reportedly took the artist seven years and several months to complete. ”Won’t somebody make it to the goal?” @Kya7y tweeted after posting the pics. And, believe it or not, there were actually plenty of people willing to waste several days of their lives trying to find the exit… If there even is one.

“Oh, right!” @Kya7y tweeted, “I forgot something very important: it’s not possible possible to reach the goal.” Assaulted with questions, she then added: ”I’m not really sure, but for the time being, my dad, who created this, hasn’t even reached the goal.” That’s saying a lot, but still plenty of people were up to the challenge. So she made 50 printed copies of the drawing and sent them to would-be solvers. They were never heard from again. I’m sure they’re ok, unless they popped a vessel trying to keep their concentration whale going through the maze, but none of them has yet managed to solve it. I mean just look at this thing, it even looks impossible.

Solvable or not, this is one great-looking work of art. When people asked to know more about the man behind the maze, @Kya7y tweeted again: "Where does my father work? At a public university!! In the athletic department!!! As a janitor." Talk about never judging a book by its covers, eh? And if you needed more proof of this guy’s talent, we posted a few more of his incredible drawings, after the maze photos.

 

 

 

via Spoon & Tamago

Insanely Complicated Maze Is Probably Impossible to Solve was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Education Anywhere – Underprivileged Indian Children Attend Outdoor School under a Bridge

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 02:03 AM PST

40-year-old Rajesh Kumar Sharma, from New Delhi, started a makeshift school under a metro bridge, where he teaches children from the city’s slums too poor to attend regular schools. He believes education is the most important weapon for India’s youth, and if they don’t have it, they are doomed for life.

Mr. Sharma is not a real teacher. He runs a general store in the city, but for two hours a day he leaves his brother in charge of the business and rushes to his improvised outdoor school, under one of Delhi’s metro bridges. If it wasn’t for Rajesh and the dozens of children who go here daily, you would never guess this is a place for education. There are no walls or desks, just the bridge acting as a protecting roof in case of rain, and three squares painted black and used as blackboards. The teacher doesn’t only provide his knowledge for free, but also all the reading and writing materials, and the rugs his students sit on during classes. The kids, aged 4 to 12, learn math and basic reading and writing, in preparation for future admission into Government schools. In fact, out of the 140 children he started the school with a little over a year ago, 70 are already attending public schools. ”They still come here everyday. I manage to keep them ahead of the school curriculum,” Sharma told India Express.

Photo: Altaf Qadri/AP

Rajesh Kumar Sharma, who came to New Delhi 20 years ago, was forced to quit Business School during his third year of study, due to financial constraints, and doesn’t want to see anyone meet the same fate. So when he passed by the site of his makeshift school and saw all these poor children playing in the mud and wasting their youth instead of getting proper education, he decided to do something about it. He started arguing with parents who wanted their children to work rather than go to school, so they could support their families, and managed to persuade them education was much more valuable. ”Our teacher has told us that when poverty strikes, you should open your mind, and that can be done only through education,” one of his students says. He takes no attendance, and has no school-like boundaries, which is exactly what had kids coming back every day. Even kids too young for school are allowed to attend, as Rejesh believes the experience will inspire them.

 

“I understand that the Government can’t build a school here right now, I am not naive, I know that. But I dream we will get a small school where all the kids who live here can study,” Rajesh says. Until that day comes, his rudimentary school will have to do.

Education Anywhere – Underprivileged Indian Children Attend Outdoor School under a Bridge was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

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