Since her death in 1994, Gloria Ramirez has inspired episodes of hit TV shows like The X-Files, Grey's Anatomy and Law and Order, and has become an urban legend in her own right.
While Ramirez was a mild-mannered housewife and elementary school volunteer from Riverside, California, the mother-of-two's mysterious death has puzzled scientists and investigators for years. Even today, experts can only guess what caused the "toxic woman" to make everyone around her fall ill.
Ramirez was suffering from the late stages of cervical cancer when she was brought in to the emergency room of Riverside General Hospital. Struggling to breathe and suffering from heart failure, Ramirez was given oxygen and her heart was shocked using a defibrillator.
Around this time the ER staff noticed something strange was happening. Ramirez's body was very oily, and was giving off a smell like fruit or garlic. A nurse drew blood from Ramirez's arm, and staff noticed yellow-orange particles floating in the tube. A doctor also said the sample smelled like ammonia.
Then, hospital staff started to fall ill. The nurse who drew Ramirez's blood passed out, and others became so nauseous they had to leave the room. The ER was eventually evacuated, and only a small crew stayed inside to treat Ramirez. In total 23 hospital workers fell ill, and five had to be hospitalized.
Ramirez died from kidney failure just 45 minutes after arriving in the ER, but her mystery didn't end there...
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