Off the wall

There is a saying that walls have ears, so sensitive discussions should not be heard by unwanted listeners.

In a bar in Hidaka, Hokkaido, Japan, the wall had more than ears when police raided it on 10 January in response to a request to find a missing person.

A grandmother reported on 1 January that her granddaughter was missing after she did not return home on New Year’s Eve.

Police found the body of a clothed woman in a gap behind the wall of the bar’s storage area that was covered with plywood, Japan Today (JT) reports.

Police arrested the bar manager, 49-year-old Toshihiko Matsukura, on suspicion of hiding the body of the woman, who was strangled to death based on the autopsy result, according to JT.

Meanwhile, a man shared on TikTok that his home wall gave him a severe infection.

Reporting the man’s post without mentioning his name, the New York Post (NYP) says he fell against a wall, causing a cut on his back and shoulder. A week later, the injury became infected and he was taken to a hospital ER, according to NYP. 

The diagnosis: Staphylococcus aureus bacterial infection.

Doctors, wearing biohazard suits, goggles, and full-face respirator masks, went to the patient’s house and took samples from the spiky, calcified ridges on the wall that caused the unusual infection. Upon examination, dried nasal mucus, or booger, stuck on a wide portion of the wall for some time was confirmed as the source of the staph bacteria.

While about 1 in 3 people carry Staphylococcus aureus bacteria harmlessly in the nose or on the skin, millions can get a serious illness when the bacteria enter the body through cuts, NYP reports.

The man survived the infection and fully recovered. Realizing the risks that come with booger walls, he advised parents to check their kids’ walls to prevent the infection he suffered from happening to them.