Man Survived Night on Frozen Bench in Underwear Thanks to Alcohol!

Add this to yet another benefit of intoxication: it can save you from freezing to death!

A drunk man found lying on a frozen park bench in his underwear survived because of the amount of alcohol in his blood.

Aleksander Andrzej, 32, was spotted in the Warsaw park - where the temperature was -5C - and taken to hospital by police, reports Metro.

A breath test showed he had 1,024 micrograms per 100ml, nearly 30 times the legal limit for driving, which doctors say helped him live.

They believe alcohol in his blood acted like anti-freeze ...

Link (Photo: Shutterstock)


Hard to believe, this story. Alcohol will make you feel warmer, but in fact will cool you faster. That'll lead to hypothermia sooner.

Here's how it works: if you're cold, your body will pull blood from non-vital parts to keep the vital organs warm. Your extremities will have little blood circulation, which might lead to frost bite, but will give you better odds to survive the coldness altogether. Alcohol opens those blood vessels which your cold body wants to close. This will feel more comfortable (at first anyway) but you will cool off more rapidly.
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There was a similar situation with Charles Joughin, a baker who survived the sinking of the Titanic in part because he figured he was going to die anyway, so he decided to have a nip or two to take the edge off and ended up surviving the 28 degree water.
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I don't know about the science or not, but I got stinking drunk once and passed out in the backyard in the middle of winter. I woke up 4 hours later feeling, well, not good, but functional and not at all cold. But when I got back into the house, I started to get a horrible itching sensation all over my skin and then I felt like I was on fire. Then I started shivering for several hours.

I've always thought I started to freeze.
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