Man rushed to hospital after waking up as blue as Avatar – but it was fabric dye

by

Doctors were baffled when a man arrived at the hospital with completely blue skin, resembling the characters from the movie Avatar. After tests, they discovered he wasn’t actually sick – there was no medical explanation for the color change.

A 42-year-old man from Castle Gresley, England, named Tommy Lynch, went to the emergency room worried about a serious health issue after noticing his skin had turned bright blue, the BBC reports.

Medical personnel first responded as if it were a serious emergency. Lynch said he was quickly examined, given oxygen, and examined by several doctors who were trying to determine the cause of his sudden change in skin color.

However, the mystery was solved moments later when a nurse attempted to draw blood.

Man with “Avatar” blue skin was rushed to hospital

He explained that when the nurse cleaned his arm with an alcohol wipe, the wipe immediately turned blue. That’s when he realized what was happening.

Rather than turning into a blue alien like those in the movie Avatar, the man’s skin color had changed because of his new bed sheets. He’d slept on unwashed navy blue sheets, and some of the dye had transferred onto his skin.

Man’s blue skin A&E panic was just bed sheet dye

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 13, 2026

“[The doctors] were absolutely fantastic, but I was mortified,” said the 42-year-old.

The man’s skin stayed noticeably blue for about a week, even after he went to the hospital. He explained that people stared at him while he tried to wash it off, and the water actually turned blue with each bath.

“The first thing I did when I got home was wash my sheets. I haven’t gone blue since.”

Read More

2026-03-13 19:23