Mr Universe seized after 'insulin shock'

This is another case of ther police not seeking answers to behavior or ignoring the obvious!

Doc, I was just thinking that!!! I would not expect someone to be in control of himself when going through something like that. It's not like he did it on purpose!!

That is a shame. I know that shock or a reaction to insulin can cause varied behavior. Unfortunately this is not the first time I have heard of this happening.

What a horrible thing to realize after the fact. I really feel for Mr. Burns and hope that everything can be worked out. I never would endorse assaulting a police officer, but, if he was suffering from insulin shock, he likely had little idea what he was doing.

Let's hope he gets an understanding judge. I have never gone through insulin shock but the feeling I get when I have low blood sugar is the worse. I always carry candy with me just in case.

Have a great day Donald!

Um..ecuse me? The man was in insulin shock! Did the police want him to slip into a diabetic coma for crying out loud?

Durham....you do ot know what you are talking about! He said walked......he obviously was staggering, seemed to be inebriated & knowing how the cops act he was approached ina an aggressive manneer. he reacted....when you get to certain point you do not respond normally or as fast as if you were in a n ormal state. I have been in this situation & i did swing on a nurse who trying to assist me. I did not know here, it was in apublic place & all I can remember is that someone I did not know was pulling on my arm. This was several years ago before I got my diabetes under control. I know that police have hard job, I also know that this giuy was BIG, muscled & not acting normal.....!

So she was lucky...not everyone reacts the same way!

Durham.

Not EVERYONE who experiences this is lucky enough to be able to catch it in time. I'm putting my money on Doc's experience, because he's experienced it first hand.

Oh, so durham has lived with ONE diabetic for 43 years, so he knows how EVERY diabetic reacts in EVERY situation.

Hubris is a sin, durham.

Durham,

I have a problem with hypoglycemia. I also have a problem with hardheadedness. I don't know Mr. Universe's exact situation. Our Universes have not yet crossed.

Most of the time when I get the woogy feeling I reach for the sugar. But I cannot lie and say that there are not times when I would say to myself...just 5 mins more and I will finish this and I can be fine and take my sugar. I am a nursing student and I KNOW better.....yet this past December I was so weak adn woogy when taking a test. I just wanted to finish. I did it. I ran to the breakroom. Took my sugar (duh) and then got the candy. Confusion. My sugar was 45. How dangerous was that.

My point being. I am not completely stupid. But I have my stupid moments. And one slip in judgement can get you to confused and confused can get you to crisis and crisis can get you to coma.

It can happen. Fortunately you have a smart wife.

On the same token it is so hard for some police. How would they know? Do they get medical training? I dunno. It is a fine line they walk. But the mace does seem a little overkill....but then again...I wasn't there.

I try to see both sides. I think usually when things like this occur....there is a breakdown somewhere. I don't believe anything is ever black and white.

Judgement calls are never, ever easy.....and they are called to do that everyday. So they have my empathy there for sure.

But the diabetic has my empathies too. I don't think much can be done for this situation but it is good to know...public health wise.....what can happen in a diabetic crisis. Sometimes it is not even a case of negligence. Your wife for example....she was dancing and enjoying herself and having a lovely time. At the same time she putting herself in a hypoglycemic state. Not at all her fault.....these things can happen. You the person having fun can be you the person who forgets that you are also the person who has a potentially life threatening condition. And in the blink of an eye.....you are in trouble...and you are unable to communicate it. And God help you if no one understands what is happening. It is a slippery slope for sure. Know what I mean?

Well Mr. Durham. I hope I haven't offended your sensibilities in anyway. Much Love to you and your lovely wife. I hope she is doing well.

Thank you for the interesting topic.....both Mr. H.'s :)

oh and one last thing Mr. Durham....

The more education there is out there....I think it can help take the smallest bit of burden off of the police to have to make that difficult judgement call.

Know what I mean?

Every diabetic can & does react differeently to hypoglycemia &/or hyperglycemia....no one can say who will react in what way. it is not a concious recation, it is not controllable afetr a specific point & law enforcement needs to be trained to deal with this sort of thing in a nonaggressive manner.

Durham.

Not EVERYONE who experiences this is lucky enough to be able to catch it in time. I'm putting my money on Doc's experience, because he's experienced it first hand.

Well I re-posted my comment because I wasn't aware that it had posted the first time.

My money is on the people with the FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE with medical situations like Doc and La Bellota.

I know people with medical conditions and how they have reacted, but that does not make me as qualified to speak from experience as the person who is actually SUFFERING from the medical condition!!!!

I agree that Durham's wife was extremely fortunate in how things happened.

Often when we are in "Now" mode (emergency mode), we need it NOW, and often our reactions can not be controlled.

The very fact that he STAGGERED to the snack bar says that he KNEW he needed sugar, why he needed it, and that he needed it now. Sadly, he didn't get there in time, and in a state beyond his control, something unfortunate happened.

I agree with those who say that the police need more emergency medical training. If someone were to hit me, in that situation it would still hurt (physically), but kowing the background and the fact that the person was in insulin shock would allow me to better understand that there was NO INTENT to harm.

Thank you Doc, for posting this article. I'm happy to see how many people actually understand, even if one doesn't.

Ok....researched this issue. Seems that the man staggered up to the stand, he was observed by an off duty cop working security who only saw that the man was staggering, spoke with slurred speech, had glassy eyes & was HUGE! The officer ordered the man to do something that is his confused state he was slow to comprehend & when the officer shoputed at him he pushed the officer away from him. I doubt seriously if the judge will try this case. it will probably be dropped either in court or prior to court. Whatever happeend the cop overreacted & indoing so acted in a manner designed to cause a reaction in someone suffering from a diabetic low or high recation.

Makes perfect sense to me, Doc!! Though he was showing similar simptoms to being drunk, he was NOT drunk. Had the officer taken a bit more time to react CALMLY this may not have happened.

In the case of drunkeness, the person has control (he chose to drink) but in this case, the man did not have any control over WHY he felt or reacted as he did.

I know of a guy, one of my Aunts knows him and worked with him, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. The truth is he was trying to get to the hospital and did not realize the effects were effecting him that bad yet. THe cop thought he was drunk even after he tried and tried to explain to the officers that he was having trouble with his Diabetes. He almost died in a Houston jail from Insulin Shock.
Yes this is an issue that needs much more attention by the police. Maybe more training?

Yeah right, Durham!!

When a person is that ill, it's quite possible that they lose total control of thesmelves through no fault of their own. The poor guy was probably already too ill to be ABLE to say that!!!

Well said, Heidi!!! My mother uses the old "you do so well, we FORGET!" excuse to cover her butt after having complained that I didn't see something that was right infront of me or that I can't move fast enough for her liking. LOL

Funny, I do just FINE on my own, it's only when certain PEOPLE are involved that I'm TOLD I don't do as well as I do. AARRGGHH!!!

To the rest of the world!

You can think you understand as much as you want, but unless you're like us, who have a disability (I prefer to say a challenge), you can't say a bloody word about it!!

I know that I wear a medic-alert tag and keep a card in my purse that BOTH state I am diabetic ...... but that has not been enough to help me when I have gone into insulin shock ..........

I have been accused of being drunk, lazy, dumb or slow-witted on a few occasions when my sugar dropped so low that it was amazing I was even conscious .... and I WAS NOT ABLE to vocalize the problem or even to write it down ..... Try getting it through to people that you need help when you can't even get the card out of your purse, let alone get someone to READ the damn thing .....

Thankfully, I managed to FINALLY get someone to help me and retained consciousness long enough to get to the hospital [thank you, Good Samaritan] .... where the medical staff saw my medic alert tag and knew what to do as I slipped into a coma ....

When your sugar is going crazy [either UP or Down] you sometimes do NOT know it is happening ...... and if you are fortunate enough to realize that something IS WRONG, there is usually very little time to do something about it .... and everything seems to be going in slow motion [at least, for ME] and you generally don't comprehend what is being said or done very well .... or you don't react at normal speed ........

I take NO chances, now ......... after coming out of 2 different diabetic comas, I don't have any choice ..... the doc told me that it was a miracle that I came out of the first coma ....... with the second, they actually pulled the plug on me and were just waiting for the brain activity to stop when I came out of it just b/f the last rites were finished .... If I go into another one, I'm supposed to just kiss my butt goodbye b/c they don't think it possible for me to pull out of it again ....

NOW, I have a cell phone for emergencies .... and the first number in memory is 911 ..... if I am EVER in a bad way again .... and can realize that I need help ... I just need to push one button to get an ambulance ....... I think the cost is worth it to keep me alive .......