Question About Fatigue & Numbness - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

HealthBdMember · 08-01-2004, 06:12 PM

Last Thursday my grandmother's 42-year-old nextdoor neighbor named Mike, who was a very kind man that lived alone, died at his home due to a fire. He had multiple sclerosis. The fire started in his livingroom sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 AM. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, though no foul play is suspected (may have been wiring, since it was an old house). The firefighters found him still lying in bed. The flames never reached the bedroom, but there was major heat and smoke damage, so he likely died from smoke inhalation.

Anyway, I was reading about multiple sclerosis online and learned that it usually causes fatigue, which heat tends to aggravate, and numbness that can be very dangerous if near fire. So this made me wonder if having multiple sclerosis caused Mike to not feel the heat from the fire and/or be too tired to wake up?

The sound of the fire must have been loud and the heat unbearable, so I don't understand why he didn't wake up. I hope he didn't suffer. It haunts me to think that the disease may have contributed to his death.

Dessell · 08-02-2004, 04:38 PM

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your friend.I can answer your question from what happened to my mother-in-law,,she was 48 and died in a house fire,she was also found in her bed,she did not have MS,was a healthy woman,what got her was the smoke,she was asleep and never woke up.I would say your friend went the same way,with no suffering and ms had nothing to do with it,,,bad things happen usually to good people.

Jewel2 · 08-02-2004, 10:29 PM

Hi,
Your story is a tragedy, but I have to agree with Dessell. I doubt the MS had anything to do with his death (unless he was paralyzed). The carbon monoxide gets people very quickly, MS or not. He probably just went to sleep and never woke up.

Dessell, I'm very sorry about the loss of your mother-in-law. It seems so senseless.

Take care everyone,
Julie

HealthBdMember · 08-03-2004, 02:49 PM

Mike wasn't actually my friend, but thank you for your condolences nonetheless. Sorry to hear of your mother-in-law's tragedy as well.

Well, I'm relieved to at least know now that MS didn't contribute to his death. He wasn't paralyzed either.

As I said in my previous post, he was a very kind man who cared a lot about other people. Before he had MS, he shoveled my grandmother's driveway many times during winter without her ever asking. He never asked to be paid for it either; he just did it out of kindness. He'd always tell her that if she ever needed help with anything to not be afraid to ask.

He was the kind of person who would always go out of their way to help other people.

Thank you both for easing my mind. I'm sad that he died so tragically, but at least now he won't ever suffer again and won't be alone anymore. He's with all the other good people who once walked the earth.