A transplant patient has developed an insatiable craving for junk food – after receiving a new heart from a teenager with a taste for fatty snacks. David Waters is the latest example of an extraordinary phenomenon which sees some transplant recipients take on the characteristics of the donor.
David Waters received the heart from Kaden Delaney, who was left brain dead after a car crash. Before the operation David had ‘no desire at all’ for junk food (Burger Rings, ring-shaped hamburger-flavoured crisps, etc.). After the organ transplant he started to eat junk food. It was two years before he found out why the cravings had started suddenly after his operation.
David Waters began exchanging emails with Kaden’s family. A curious Mr Waters asked: ‘Did Kaden like Burger Rings? That’s all I seemed to want to eat after my surgery.’He was astonished to hear that he ate them daily.
The case in Australia adds weight to a theory that the brain is not the only organ to store memories or personality traits. Scientists say there are at least 70 documented cases of transplant patients having personality changes which reflect the characteristics of their donor.
Other famous examples:
Other astonishing examples include the case of American Sonny Graham, who received the heart of Terry Cottle, who had shot himself in the head.After the transplant in 1995 Mr Graham met Mr Cottle’s widow Cheryl, falling in love and marrying her. Twelve years later Mr Graham picked up a gun and shot himself in the throat, leaving Cheryl a widow for the second time grieving for husbands who had shared a heart.
An eight-year-old girl received the heart of a murdered ten-year-old and began having terrifying dreams about a man murdering her donor. Until then, the murderer had not been caught, but recollections from the girl’s dream were so precise that police were able to track down the killer and he was convicted.
Daily Mail
Vocabulary:
transplant – (szerv)átültetéses
insatiable – telhetetlen, kielégít(het)etlen
craving – gyötr? vágy
junk food – gyorséttermi étel
phenomenon – jelenség
to take on sg – felvesz, átvesz
no desire at all – egyáltalán nem vágyik rá
ring-shaped – gy?r? alakú
hamburger-flavoured – hamburger íz?
crisp – burgonyaszelet
to be astonished – megdöbbent, meglep?dött
to add weight to sg – meger?sít valamit, növeli a súlyát
widow – özvegy
to track down sy – valakinek a nyomára bukkanni
convicted – elítélt
Burger Rings
It’s a hamburger flavoured Australian snack food. A memorable advertisement for the product was aired on Australian TV in the 80s with a Star Wars theme. It featured a faux Luke Skywalker character on Tatooine. He got out of his Landspeeder to be confronted by a large group of Jawas asking for his Burger Rings. He begrudgingly shares them only to be left with a single Burger Ring. A Jawa swiftly grabs that last one and the ad ends.
!Questions!
Do you like junk food?
Why is it so unhealthy?
What is your favourite food? Is it healthy?
