Julio Macias Gonzalez was just 17 years old when he was eating dinner with his family. Suddenly the teenager began having convulsions. He passed away before the paramedics arrived. Doctors determined a hickey from his girlfriend was the cause of death.
Sounds unbelievable, but CBS 2's Dr. Max Gomez, a skeptic, decided to investigate himself. Gomez spoke with a stroke specialist who determined that a hickey, if aggressively given, can lead to a blood clot which can travel to the brain and cause a stroke.
Generally speaking, a hickey is nothing to worry about. The markings on the neck are a bruise, not an injury. A bruise can't lead to a stroke, but in rare cases like this a hickey can cause a blood clot.
“The carotid artery, which is one of the arteries that goes to the brain, travels through the neck," said Dr. Mitchell Elkind. "So, if you were to press on or otherwise damage the neck in that area where the carotid artery is going, potentially they could cause enough injury to tear the blood vessel, and cause a blood clot to form that could go to the brain and cause a stroke.”
Those with genetic connective tissue disorders that can make arteries fragile are the most vulnerable to hickey-related blood clots.
This isn't the first time this rare occurrence has happened: In 2011 a 44-year-old woman became paralyzed after her husband gave her a hickey that caused a blood clot that traveled to her heart.
Most parents won't have to worry about a hickey-caused death, but Gomez says the best way to prevent this albeit unlikely scenario is to avoid hickeys altogether.
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