Posted on 01/04/2014 4:13:13 PM PST by lbryce
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos suffered a kidney stone attack while in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and had to be airlifted by an Ecuadorian navy helicopter to his personal jet, then flown to the US for surgery, according to ABC News. Bezos is said to have suffered the attack on January 1st aboard a cruise ship, according to local media outlet Galapagos Digital. The helicopter's pilot was quoted by another Spanish-language outlet, El Comercio, as saying he received messages of thanks from Bezo's family and business partners. We've reached out to Amazon for comment on the situation and will update as we learn more.
Bezos confirmed the incident today, with an Amazon spokesperson providing the following statement to Business Insider: "I sent Jeff your note and here's what he sent back: 'Galapagos: five stars. Kidney stones: zero stars.'
Certainly Jeff Bezos is one of the fortunate few to whom the term "Master of the Universe" or versions thereof truly applies. Internet visionary, brilliant marketing savant, would-be space conquerer, newly ascended role as publisher of the soon-to-be vanquished crown jewels of MSM's imperious dead-tree dinosaurs aka 'Washington Post', Jeff Bezos has got it all.
I harbor no personal resentment towards Bezos nor any sense of Schandenfreude in the unfortunate situation he's currently been subjected to.
Nevertheless, to borrow a Yiddish phrase, Der Mensch Tracht, und Gutt Lacht, Man plans, while God ridicules.
Wouldn’t Cuba have been closer?
“Bezos confirmed the incident today, with an Amazon spokesperson providing the following statement to Business Insider: “I sent Jeff your note and here’s what he sent back: ‘Galapagos: five stars. Kidney stones: zero stars.’”
That’s pretty funny.
I had one on a flight from Denver to JFK.
The captain of the Boeing 767 came back to my seat and offered to put the plane down in any city on the way. I told him I’d stick it out and go to an ER on Long Island.
Little did I know that it was Yom Kippur and everyone has to be home by sundown.
Bottom line; heavily sedated I made it back to Denver and went to a three beam lithotripsy machine which turned the 1.2 cm stones to sand.
Root cause as it turned out: tea drinking.
We were in Machu Picchu and Galapagos in Sept. He’s right.
I pity any poor fool that gets the stones... Three timer here...
How did they determine that?
I had a kidney stone attack just one month ago. Thought it was gas at first. Put up with it for a couple days, then got up one night, couldn’t sleep with the pain. Went to the bathroom, enormous pain - on a scale of 1 to 10 that was close to 11. Urine was the color of cranberry juice. Went to the ER. Turns out I’d just passed it. Good thing too, because my left kidney had failed. They admitted me.
Spent the next couple of days inpatient, as they kept an eye on my creatinine levels (kidney function). Kept rising so they dismissed me. Oh, no ObamaCare - not yet anyway.
Can’t say which was worse, having the stone or passing it.
Whoops! Creatinine kept going DOWN. That’s where it was supposed to go...
Shouda sent him to Venuzuela for treatment...
The could have kept the jet for payment.
He’d have to throw in some toilet paper as well.
Well, I had “other” treatment the year earlier and the stones were not seen. I scrutinized my consumption habits that year and determined that I did go from no tea to daily tea that year.
I have not had tea since. Two years later, my urologist ordered an X-Ray (pre trip this time) and found nothing.
Bezos is lucky he’s famous and wealthy.
Do you think anyone ordinary would’ve been afforded the same privilege?
Get real.
Airlifted to to a private jet and flown to the US?
Maybe Obamacare is not all that bad.
Interesting..
I've read the story of Willliam Shatner relaying how being under the terrible duress of a kidney stone attack feeling very self-consciousness as he groveled in nearly unendurable pain almost embarrassed at the thought of how the medical staff knowing him only as the intrepid Captain Kirk who usually faced similar scenarios with bravery and stoicism lay there as the mere real life mortal moaning like some pusillanimous, weak-kneed coward.
A most definite cringe-worthy story of bravery, adversity under agonizing circumstances. I've always been under the impression kidney stones were the result of eating too much red meat, surprised to hear how tea would also cause kidney stones, as well.
Isn’t there a newer like hypersonic cavitation crusher thingy that uses sound waves to pulverize them down to nothing?
I’ve had so many I won’t seek medical attention now unless I’m near death.
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