Driver who swelled to DOUBLE his size after getting the bends still suffering horrific deformity four years on

A fisherman who swelled up to double his size when he got the bends is still suffering from the horrific deformity four years on.

Alejandro Ramos Martinez has bravely shown off his swollen body caused by decompression sickness when he ascended from the depths too fast.

He suffers from constant pain and has been forced to give up work while he's treated for the condition which also saw him suddenly gain more than four stone.

Alejandro, from Peru, used to work as a seafood fisherman, diving off the South American country's coast to one of the deepest parts of the local ocean.

But during one trip he made a nearly fatal mistake after he rose through the water too fast, causing the nitrogen dissolved in his blood to form

The nitrogen swelled into great sacs inside his body, causing him great pain and giving him an extremely unusual and swollen look.

The effect is known as decompression sickness or "the bends" and is one of the dangers most feared by divers.

He was forced to give up his job and has been undergoing oxygen treatments in a pressurised chamber.

Miguel Alarcon, a doctor at the hospital San Juan de Dios, in the city of Pisco, says he and colleagues have already managed to reduce the levels of nitrogen in his system by around 30 percent.

According to cuartopoder.es , doctors can not remove the nitrogen bags because they are attached to his flesh.

Alejandro's case, where nitrogen has stuck in balloon-like pods around his muscles, is believed to be unique.

He quickly gained weight after the accident, putting on four stone and 10 pounds.
Symptoms include swollen joints, mottled, itching skin, brain damage, paralysis, headaches, coughs, dizziness and nausea.

Decompression sickness, usually caused by ascending too fast when scuba diving, can also be fatal.

Because his case is unique, it is being studied by doctors researching decompression sickness.
They have considered surgery to remove the nitrogen from Alejandro's body but fear the operation would be too difficult.

For now Alejandro endures severe pain and walks with difficulty because of the accident.
He also suffers from serious hypertension.

Decompression sickness is becoming increasingly rare thanks to the use of wearable dive computers or dive tables to calculate how fast they can ascend.

It is not clear what caused Alejandro to ascend so fast that he contracted the bends, or how he makes his living now that he can no longer dive.