The sky was black, rain and hail were falling everywhere, and all around him, all he could hear were countless sirens.

天空一片漆黑，雨水和冰雹四處落下，在他的周圍，只能聽到無數的警報聲。

The city was in the middle of a full-scale disaster.

這座城市正處於全面災難之中。

But this professor was not actually shocked, because the day before, he had predicted this, and he had tried to warn people, but his warning had not worked.

但實際上，這位教授並沒有感到震驚，因為在前一天，他就已經預測到了這一點，他曾試圖警告人們，但他的警告並沒有奏效。

And now, people were dying in the exact way he knew they would.

而現在，人們正以他所知道的方式死去。

But, before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right place, because that's all we do, and we upload once a week.

不過，在我們開始講故事之前，如果你喜歡以故事形式提供的 "奇異、黑暗和神祕 "內容，那你就來對地方了，因為我們只做這些，而且每週上傳一次。

So, if that's of interest to you, please buy the like button, a gift certificate to a massage parlor, but before they go in, make sure to replace all the massage oils with honey and fire ants.

所以，如果你對此感興趣，請買下 "喜歡 "按鈕，買一張按摩院的禮券，但在他們進去之前，一定要把所有的按摩油都換成蜂蜜和火蟻。

Also, please subscribe to our channel and turn on all notifications, so you don't miss any of our weekly uploads.

此外，請訂閱我們的頻道並打開所有通知，這樣您就不會錯過我們每週上傳的內容。

Okay, let's get into today's story.

好了，讓我們進入今天的故事。

[♪ music playing ♪

[音樂播放

At 5.30 p.m. on November 21st, 2016, Jodi Santoro, who was a 21-year-old mother in Melbourne, Australia, woke up to the sound of her four-month-old son crying.

2016 年 11 月 21 日下午 5 時 30 分，澳洲墨爾本 21 歲的母親喬迪-桑託羅（Jodi Santoro）被四個月大的兒子的哭聲吵醒。

Outside, there was this horrible thunderstorm going on.

外面正下著可怕的雷雨。

All this rain and hail were pelting the roof, and the wind was so strong that all the windows in the house were rattling.

大雨和冰雹砸在屋頂上，狂風大作，房子裡所有的窗戶都在嘎嘎作響。

Jodi reached over and grabbed her phone on the nightstand and checked the time, and she saw right away that she had overslept.

喬迪伸手拿起床頭櫃上的手機看了看時間，她一眼就看出自己睡過頭了。

However, it had been a really hot day that day, and she was so drained from the heat, and also taking care of a four-month-old, that she wasn't really surprised she'd overslept.

不過，那天真的很熱，她被熱得精疲力竭，還要照顧四個月大的孩子，所以她對自己睡過頭並不感到驚訝。

But, as the sound of her son's cries intensified, Jodi knew, no matter how tired she was, she needed to get up and go tend to him.

但是，隨著兒子的哭聲越來越大，喬迪知道，無論她有多累，她都必須站起來去照顧他。

But, the instant her legs swung off the bed and she actually tried to stand up, she knew something was wrong, and it had nothing to do with being tired.

但是，當她的雙腿從床上擺動起來並試圖站起來的一瞬間，她就知道出了問題，而這與疲憊無關。

She had this incredible sense of dizziness come over her, and then her chest suddenly tightened up to the point where she could barely even breathe in.

她感到一陣難以置信的眩暈，然後胸口突然悶得幾乎喘不過氣來。

She found herself grabbing the bed just to steady herself.

她發現自己抓著床只是為了穩住自己。

However, as alarming as this was, Jodi didn't panic.

儘管如此，喬迪並沒有驚慌失措。

She knew this feeling.

她知道這種感覺。

She had been dealing with asthma for years, and she knew this was the start of an asthma attack.

她多年來一直與哮喘打交道，她知道這是哮喘發作的開始。

And so, Jodi reached over for her inhaler on the nightstand.

於是，喬迪伸手去拿床頭櫃上的吸入器。

She picked it up, brought it to her lips, pressed it down, and then took in a measured breath of the medication, expecting to pretty much immediately feel relief.

她拿起它，湊到嘴邊，按了下去，然後有節制地吸了一口藥，期待著能馬上感覺到輕鬆。

But, she didn't.

但是，她沒有。

The inhaler wasn't working.

吸入器不管用

Jodi, again, pressed down the inhaler, harder this time, and took a bigger breath in, hoping that a bit more medication might do the trick.

喬迪又一次按下了吸入器，這次更用力了，吸得更大了，希望多吸一點藥可能會有效果。

But, again, it just was not working.

但是，還是不行。

And so, now, with panic rising inside of her, she's still struggling to breathe.

所以，現在，她內心的恐慌在不斷升溫，她還在努力地呼吸。

Her son is still freaking out, and she can't tend to him.

她的兒子還在抓狂，她無法照顧他。

And all she was thinking is, I have to get my nebulizer, which is basically a more robust version of an inhaler.

她當時想的是，我得去拿我的霧化器，那基本上是一個更強大版本的吸入器。

It provides more medication more quickly into your body.

它能讓更多的藥物更快地進入人體。

However, the nebulizer, which was just over in her closet, required some setup.

不過，霧化器就在她的衣櫃裡，需要進行一些設置。

And she knew she felt so frantic right now, and she was shaking so much, that she didn't think she'd be able to set it up, or even set it up in time before she passed out.

她知道，她現在感到非常瘋狂，渾身顫抖得厲害，她不認為自己能夠設置好，甚至不認為自己能夠在昏迷前及時設置好。

Just then, her fiancé walked into the bedroom, drawn there by the sound of their son crying.

就在這時，她的未婚夫走進臥室，是被兒子的哭聲吸引過來的。

But, the second he walked in, his attention was not on their son.

但是，他一進門，注意力就不在他們的兒子身上了。

It was instead on Jodi, who by now was clutching the bed, and kind of hobbled over, and very clearly having some sort of medical emergency.

喬迪此時正緊緊抓住床，步履蹣跚地走過來，顯然是出現了某種緊急狀況。

Jodi turned to him and began to say, I can't breathe.

喬迪轉向他，開始說："我無法呼吸。

But her fiancé already knew she had asthma.

但她的未婚夫已經知道她患有哮喘。

He knew what these attacks looked like.

他知道這些攻擊是什麼樣的。

And so, without even needing to be told, he rushed to the closet, set up her nebulizer, and then put the mask right over her face.

於是，他連吩咐都不用吩咐，就衝到壁櫥前，為她準備好霧化器，然後把面罩直接罩在她的臉上。

And as soon as it was, Jodi took in the biggest inhale she possibly could, really believing this was going to stop the asthma attack.

一吸氣，喬迪就使勁吸了一大口，她真的相信這樣就能阻止哮喘發作。

But just like the inhaler, the nebulizer didn't work.

但和吸入器一樣，霧化器也不起作用。

It felt like with every breath she was taking, her lungs were shrinking, not expanding.

她感覺自己每呼吸一次，肺都在縮小，而不是擴張。

And so, Jodi turned to her fiancé and croaked out, call an ambulance.

於是，喬迪轉向她的未婚夫，哽咽著說："快叫救護車。

Her voice barely audible.

她的聲音幾乎聽不見。

And so, her fiancé, who also was now beginning to panic, grabbed the phone, and as he was talking to the dispatcher, trying to relay all the details of what was happening, outside this thunderstorm was only getting worse and worse.

於是，她的未婚夫也開始驚慌失措，他拿起電話，一邊與調度員通話，一邊試圖轉述發生的所有細節，外面的雷雨越來越大。

The hail and the rain were battering the sides of the house, and all the windows were shaking.

冰雹和大雨擊打著房子的兩側，所有的窗戶都在搖晃。

I mean, it was absolute bedlam inside of this house.

我是說，房子裡簡直是一片混亂。

The next few minutes were torture for Jodi.

接下來的幾分鐘對喬迪來說簡直是煎熬。

She laid on the bed, waiting for paramedics.

她躺在床上，等待醫護人員的到來。

Her breaths at this point were so small, so shallow, like she knew she was about to pass out any second.

此時，她的呼吸是那麼小，那麼淺，就像她知道自己隨時都會暈過去一樣。

And then finally, the paramedics rushed inside.

最後，醫護人員衝了進去。

She knew there were two people in the room, but it was so chaotic.

她知道房間裡有兩個人，但一切都太混亂了。

And all she could say when they showed up in the room was, I'm going to die.

當他們出現在房間裡時，她只能說：我要死了。

I'm going to die.

我要死了

The paramedics lifted her off the bed, they put her on the gurney, and as they wheeled her out the door towards the ambulance, her world went totally black.

醫護人員把她從床上抬起來，放在輪床上，當他們把她推出門，推上救護車時，她的世界一片漆黑。

We're all looking for a fresh start this time of the year.

每年的這個時候，我們都在尋找一個新的開始。

Whether it's trying to eat better or lose weight, you know, we all have some bad habits we're trying to stop, and some good habits we're trying to start.

無論是想吃得更好還是想減肥，你知道，我們都有一些壞習慣想戒掉，也有一些好習慣想開始。

Well, make this the year that you finally start to get out from being under that crushing debt.

那麼，讓今年成為你最終開始擺脫沉重債務的一年吧。

And the first step to doing that is contacting PDS Debt for a personalized solution.

要做到這一點，第一步就是聯繫 PDS Debt，尋求個性化的解決方案。

Before I became Mr. Ballin, my wife and I definitely struggled financially and definitely fell into some debt.

在我成為 Ballin 先生之前，我和妻子在經濟上非常拮据，還欠下了一些債務。

Had we had PDS Debt at the time, I would imagine that would have made our lives a whole lot easier.

如果當時我們有 PDS 債務，我想我們的生活會輕鬆很多。

PDS Debt has customized options for anybody struggling with credit cards, personal loans, collections, or medical bills.

PDS Debt 為任何與信用卡、個人貸款、收款或醫療賬單作鬥爭的人提供量身定製的選擇。

If you're making payments every month on your debt, and your debt is still not going down,

如果您每月都在償還債務，而您的債務仍然沒有減少、

PDS Debt has solutions for you.

PDS Debt 為您提供解決方案。

PDS Debt strives to understand your specific scenario to help provide alternative solutions to becoming debt-free.

PDS Debt 努力瞭解您的具體情況，幫助提供其他解決方案，使您擺脫債務。

Everyone with $10,000 or more of eligible debt qualifies, and there is no minimum credit score required.

每個擁有 10,000 美元或以上合格債務的人都有資格申請，而且沒有最低信用分數要求。

Save more while paying off your debt in a fraction of the time.

節省更多開支的同時，只需極短的時間就能還清債務。

Make this the year you take control of your debt.

讓今年成為你控制債務的一年。

Get a free debt analysis right now at pdsdebt.com slash mrballin.

立即登錄 pdsdebt.com slash mrballin 獲取免費債務分析。

It only takes 30 seconds.

只需 30 秒鐘。

Again, that is pdsdebt.com slash mrballin.

同樣，這是 pdsdebt.com slash mrballin。

Okay, back to the story.

好了，回到故事上來。

The paramedics rushed Jodi to Sunshine Hospital, and on the way, they tried to stabilize her by squeezing these oxygen bags, forcing oxygen into Jodi's lungs.

醫護人員將喬迪緊急送往陽光醫院，在途中，他們試圖通過擠壓這些氧氣袋來穩定她的病情，迫使氧氣進入喬迪的肺部。

And as they were doing that, Jodi's fiancé was following the ambulance right behind, white-knuckling the steering wheel, praying his fiancé was going to survive this asthma attack.

就在他們這樣做的時候，喬迪的未婚夫緊跟在救護車後面，緊握方向盤，祈禱他的未婚夫能從這次哮喘發作中活下來。

When the ambulance finally arrived at Sunshine Hospital, the emergency room was mayhem.

當救護車最終抵達陽光醫院時，急診室裡一片混亂。

Paramedics quickly wheeled Jodi in on her gurney, shouting out her vital signs to the doctors waiting near the door.

醫護人員迅速將喬迪推上輪床，向守候在門邊的醫生大聲呼喊她的生命體徵。

Her fiancé, meanwhile, watched helplessly as the medical staff surrounded her and inserted IV lines, hooked up monitors, and began intubating her to force even more oxygen into her lungs.

與此同時，她的未婚夫無助地看著醫護人員將她團團圍住，為她插上輸液管，接上監護儀，並開始插管，向她的肺部輸入更多的氧氣。

But fortunately, this rapid medical intervention, once Jodi got to the hospital, appeared to work.

但幸運的是，喬迪到達醫院後，這種快速的醫療干預似乎起了作用。

Because not long after getting there, Jodi did begin to stabilize, not enough to suggest that she was actually all better, but her condition basically began to improve.

因為到達那裡不久後，喬迪的情況確實開始穩定下來，雖然還不足以說明她已經完全康復，但她的病情基本上已經開始好轉。

However, the moment she began to improve, instead of the medical team, you know, talking to her and figuring out what happened and making sure she really was on a path to recovery here, instead, the medical team literally ran out of her room, back out to the front of the ER, because by this point, the Sunshine Hospital ER was overflowing with patients.

然而，就在她病情開始好轉的那一刻，醫療團隊並沒有和她交談，弄清楚發生了什麼事，確保她真的能在這裡康復，相反，醫療團隊真的跑出了她的病房，回到了急診室門口，因為此時，陽光醫院急診室已經擠滿了病人。

There were all these people in the waiting room and also outside, and basically everybody had the same symptoms as Jodi.

候診室裡和外面有很多人，基本上每個人都有和喬迪一樣的症狀。

They couldn't breathe. There were people slumped on the ground against the wall, screaming for help.

他們無法呼吸。有人靠牆倒在地上，大聲呼救。

I mean, the medical team was totally overwhelmed.

我的意思是，醫療小組完全不知所措。

And on top of that, there were ambulances literally lined up around the block waiting to drop off patients.

除此之外，還有救護車在街區內排起了長隊，等待著送走病人。

There just wasn't any more space.

只是沒有更多的空間了。

But nonetheless, doctors and nurses and the medical team at the hospital worked furiously, moving from one patient to the next, sometimes in an exam room, sometimes out in the waiting room, sometimes outside.

但儘管如此，醫院的醫生、護士和醫療團隊仍在緊張地工作著，從一個病人轉到另一個病人，有時在檢查室，有時在候診室，有時在室外。

It's wherever the patients were.

病人在哪裡，就在哪裡。

But the weird thing was, is all these people, they had the same symptoms, these severe asthma attacks.

但奇怪的是，所有這些人都有同樣的症狀，嚴重的哮喘發作。

Yet many of the people that were showing up had never had asthma in their lives before.

然而，許多前來就診的人以前從未得過哮喘。

So how was this happening?

那麼，這是怎麼發生的呢？

This went on for hours and hours.

這種情況持續了好幾個小時。

And really, the situation in the hospital only continued to get worse, with more and more and more patients showing up with worse and worse symptoms.

實際上，醫院的情況只會越來越糟，越來越多的病人出現越來越嚴重的症狀。

And so during this madness, Jodi, who really hadn't gotten better, she just stabilized, she actually was moved out of the emergency room and over to the ICU, pretty much just to create one more space for new patients.

在這瘋狂的過程中，喬迪並沒有好轉，她只是病情穩定了，實際上她被從急診室轉移到了重症監護室，幾乎就是為了給新病人創造更多的空間。

And so in the ICU, Jodi's fiancé sat next to her, gripping her hand, listening to the sound of the monitors beeping steadily all around her.

就這樣，在重症監護室裡，喬迪的未婚夫坐在她身邊，緊握著她的手，聽著監護儀在她身邊不停地發出 "嗶嗶 "聲。

Outside the room, he could see doctors and nurses and medical staff sprinting up and down the hallways, looking frantic and worried.

在病房外，他可以看到醫生、護士和醫護人員在走廊上來回奔跑，神色慌張而擔憂。

He had no idea what was happening here.

他不知道這裡發生了什麼。

He just hoped Jodi would be okay.

他只希望喬迪能沒事。

But it would turn out there actually was someone who knew exactly what was going on.

但事實證明，確實有人知道發生了什麼。

A university researcher named Philip Taylor had actually predicted this the day before.

實際上，一位名叫菲利普-泰勒的大學研究員在前一天就已經預測到了這一點。

Professor Taylor was an expert in atmospheric allergens, a field so niche that barely anybody outside of his small research circle had even heard of it.

泰勒教授是大氣過敏原方面的專家，這個領域非常小眾，在他的研究小圈子之外，幾乎沒有人聽說過這個領域。

And so on the afternoon of November 20th, the day before,

於是在 11 月 20 日下午，也就是前一天、

Taylor had been at home in his office analyzing data when he noticed something very alarming.

泰勒在家裡的辦公室裡分析數據時，發現了一件非常令人震驚的事情。

All of the ingredients for a catastrophic event were aligning in the forecast, and the patterns were so precise that it stopped him cold.

在預報中，災難性事件的所有要素都在排列組合，其模式是如此精確，以至於讓他冷汗直流。

Taylor was stunned.

泰勒驚呆了。

He'd spent years studying the effects of weather on public health, but he'd never seen anything like this before.

他多年來一直在研究天氣對公眾健康的影響，但從未見過這樣的情況。

And at the same time, Taylor also realized that as alarming as this was, very few other people, if anybody, would see this as a problem.

與此同時，泰勒也意識到，儘管這令人震驚，但很少有人會把這看作是一個問題。

He was like the one person in the world that had the expertise to see how catastrophic this might actually be.

他就像是世界上唯一一個擁有專業知識的人，能夠看到這究竟會帶來多大的災難。

And so desperate to warn others, he wound up posting a very urgent announcement on this weather website that he managed, but unfortunately, it just wasn't seen by enough people in time.

為了向其他人發出警告，他不顧一切地在自己管理的氣象網站上發佈了一則非常緊急的公告，但不幸的是，沒有足夠的人及時看到。

And so now, as hospitals all across Melbourne overflowed with people gasping for air,

現在，墨爾本各地的醫院都擠滿了喘著粗氣的病人、

Taylor sat in his backyard watching the storm unfold.

泰勒坐在自家後院，看著暴風雨肆虐。

The sky was pitch black, rain and hail was coming down, the wind was whipping, and off in the distance, all he could hear was thunder and sirens.

天空漆黑一片，大雨和冰雹傾盆而下，狂風呼嘯，遠處只聽見雷聲和警報聲。

And he knew, unfortunately, his prediction had been right.

不幸的是，他知道自己的預言是對的。

Just like Professor Taylor's weather models had predicted, on November 21st, 2016, Melbourne, Australia was hit by an extremely rare event known as thunderstorm asthma.

正如泰勒教授的天氣模型所預測的那樣，2016 年 11 月 21 日，澳洲墨爾本遭遇了極為罕見的雷暴哮喘事件。

This deadly phenomenon can only occur when three very specific weather conditions align.

這種致命的現象只有在三種非常特殊的天氣條件同時出現時才會發生。

One, high heat during the day.

其一，白天高溫。

Two, a very powerful thunderstorm.

二，一場非常強大的雷暴。

And three, extremely high pollen levels.

第三，花粉含量極高。

Melbourne's heat that day had caused unusually high concentrations of ryegrass pollen to hang in the air.

墨爾本當天天氣炎熱，空氣中瀰漫著濃度異常高的黑麥草花粉。

And then when that huge thunderstorm rolled in, the intense humidity, the wind and the rain shattered the pollen grains into microscopic fragments.

然後，當那場巨大的雷雨襲來時，強烈的溼度、風和雨將花粉粒擊碎成微小的碎片。

And then these tiny particles, which were way smaller than regular pollen, were carried by this storm deep into people's homes and into their lungs.

然後，這些比普通花粉小得多的微小顆粒被風暴帶入人們的家中，進入他們的肺部。

Unlike normal pollen, these microscopic fragments bypassed the body's typical defenses and embedded themselves deep into people's lungs, causing severe and sudden asthma attacks.

與普通花粉不同的是，這些微小的碎片繞過了人體的典型防禦系統，深深地扎進了人們的肺部，導致嚴重的哮喘突然發作。

Now, for people who already had asthma, this was catastrophic.

現在，對於已經患有哮喘的人來說，這是災難性的。

But even perfectly healthy people found themselves gasping for air, overwhelmed by the sheer density of this microscopic pollen.

但是，即使是完全健康的人也會發現自己喘不過氣來，因為這種微小花粉的密度太大了。

The storm had essentially made the air everybody in Melbourne was breathing deadly.

暴風雨使墨爾本每個人呼吸的空氣都變得死氣沉沉。

As for Jodi Santoro, she would spend days in the ICU, hooked up to monitors, with machines pumping oxygen into her lungs while her body fought to heal.

至於喬迪-桑託羅，她將在重症監護室裡度過數天，在她的身體努力康復的同時，監護儀將她與機器相連，機器將氧氣注入她的肺部。

But she was lucky. She would eventually recover.

但她是幸運的。她最終會康復的。

And in the days that followed, she would learn the full scale of what actually happened in Melbourne.

在接下來的日子裡，她將瞭解到在墨爾本實際發生的一切。

Nearly 10,000 people had flooded the hospitals across Australia, complaining of the same symptoms that Jodi did.

近萬人湧入澳洲各地的醫院，訴說著與喬迪相同的症狀。

And unfortunately, of those 10,000, 10 people actually lost their lives.

不幸的是，在這 1 萬人中，有 10 人喪生。

And many of them were totally healthy and had never had an asthma attack in their lives before.

他們中的許多人都非常健康，一生中從未發作過哮喘。

For Jodi, despite surviving this ordeal, the awful memory of what happened on that night will forever be on her mind.

對於喬迪來說，儘管經歷了這次磨難，但那晚發生的可怕記憶將永遠留在她的腦海中。

She is now all too aware of how fragile life can be and how quickly things can change.

她現在非常清楚生命有多麼脆弱，事情變化有多麼快。

I'm going to play you a clip from my other podcast, Mr. Bollin's Medical Mysteries.

我要給你放一段我的另一個播客《博林先生的醫學之謎》的片段。

After you're done listening to it, be sure to check out Mr. Bollin's Medical Mysteries on any podcast platform.

聽完之後，請務必在任何播客平臺上收聽博林先生的《醫學之謎》。

Give it a follow. New episodes every Tuesday. Enjoy.

歡迎關注。每週二都有新節目。敬請欣賞。

Early in July of 1982, a corrections officer made his rounds at a jail in San Jose, California.

1982 年 7 月初，一名獄警在加利福尼亞州聖何塞的一所監獄巡視。

Everything seemed normal as he inspected each inmate's cell.

當他檢查每個囚犯的牢房時，一切似乎都很正常。

But as the guard peered into the last cell on the row, he was startled by what he saw.

但當警衛向最後一間牢房窺視時，他被眼前的景象嚇了一跳。

The inmate was sitting on his bunk, staring forward, his mouth hanging open.

囚犯坐在床鋪上，目視前方，嘴巴張得大大的。

He looked completely frozen, almost like something out of a wax museum.

他看上去完全僵住了，幾乎像是蠟像館裡的東西。

The guard gave the cell door a few loud knocks with his flashlight, but the inmate didn't move or even blink.

警衛用手電筒大聲敲了幾下牢門，但犯人一動不動，甚至連眼睛都沒眨一下。

The guard was afraid that the inmate was dead.

獄警擔心犯人已經死了。

So he unlocked the door and stepped into the cell, and he got right up next to the inmate.

於是，他打開門鎖，走進牢房，緊挨著囚犯。

And when he did, he could feel breath coming from the man's open mouth.

當他這樣做的時候，他能感覺到從那人張開的嘴裡呼出的氣息。

So he knew he was alive.

所以他知道自己還活著。

He gently touched the inmate to try to get him to react, but he didn't.

他輕輕觸碰犯人，試圖讓他做出反應，但他沒有。

And that gentle tap made the man's whole body rock back and forth on the bunk like a rocking chair.

這輕輕的一拍，讓他整個人像搖椅一樣在床鋪上來回搖晃。

The guy was stiff as a board.

這傢伙僵硬得像塊木板。

The guard had no idea what was going on, and he was feeling very freaked out.

警衛不知道發生了什麼事，他感到非常害怕。

But then he noticed the inmate's eyes.

但他隨後注意到了囚犯的眼睛。