Life or Death

Life or Death: Medical Mystery investigates the science behind extraordinary real-life medical stories and reveals the unseen mysteries of the human body that lay hidden beneath the skin. This step-by-step, physiological narrative of patient rescues will immerse you in stories that begin as events outside of the human body and progress inside; seeing patients teeter on the brink of death. Witness the story of the human body as we follow each patient, including first-person interviews with those who were there, to find out if the doctors' interventions would eventually kill or cure. For our victims, time is not on their side. The doctors' best efforts may not allow them to see the problems that lay beneath the surface… but the audience will. With the help of biological CGI, we'll follow the journey of each patient during these life and death decisions. With skill and a bit of good luck, medical teams can sometimes solve a mystery illness right from the start; but is the first and immediate diagnosis always right? Episode 1 When the town of Walkerton, Ontario, is hit by a mysterious illness, hundreds are stricken by vomiting and diarrhoea. After a few days people begin to die, and the race to find the cause intensifies. When the public health investigation finally uncovers the truth, their findings shock the nation. Episode 2 When the congregation of the Lutheran church inundates the Cary Medical Center doctors they are baffled as to the cause of this outbreak of stomach cramps and diarrhoea. When one of the patients slips into a coma and dies, and others become critically ill, doctors must rush to solve the mystery before more lives are lost. Episode 3 When 22 year-old Shelley Cushing suddenly collapses while skiing, doctors can find nothing wrong with her, and suspect a 'complicated migraine'. She seems to recover, but days later collapses again. Suddenly, Shelly is in a fight for her life while the doctors struggle to figure out what's happened to this seemingly healthy young woman. Episode 4 A couple visiting New York both come down with what they think is influenza. But when they seek medical help the pair give doctors the shock of their careers. Their mystery illness is something much more astonishing and dangerous than the flu, and could potentially affect the lives of millions of New Yorkers. Episode 5 Eight year-old Joshua Wooten is a real mystery. When his mother takes him to the emergency room after finding him collapsed on the floor, doctors discover that his blood oxygen level is just half of what it should be; yet he shows no obvious signs of disease. As young Josh's condition deteriorates, doctors desperate for a diagnosis seek help from the world medical community. Episode 6 When 23 year-old Sebastian Hitzig is found collapsed, with blood oozing from his nose and ears, doctors are faced with a number of deadly possibilities. But as they attempt to narrow these down, Sebastian's condition begins to rapidly deteriorate. The mystery behind the cause of his sudden sickness eventually leads to a seemingly trivial incident that happened six months earlier, and which the Hitzig family had completely forgotten about.