Did Eating Too Many Chicken Nuggets Really Paralyze Someone?
Let's be honest, who hasn't had the question cross their mind at some point or another: "What would happen if I were to eat too much of my favorite food?" Apart from the fact that many of us have an innate tendency to entertain at least some level of guilt and shame after enjoying our vices, the reason this question never seems to go out of style appears to be that it's perennially fueled by an often-repeated urban legend. The myth usually concerns someone that died from eating too much of something or other.
One such variant is the story of the "local man" that became "paralyzed" after gorging on "413 chicken nuggets" (via Snopes). However, just to be clear, this story is a complete work of fiction. More specifically, we're referring to a work of satirical fiction that appeared on a website dedicated to satirizing the news, 8Satire. Here is the story behind the story, of that time when eating too many chicken nuggets paralyzed some poor imaginary person.
If it sounds like satire, it just might actually be satire
Just to be absolutely clear, a man did not become paralyzed after eating too many chicken nuggets — not that any reputable news source has ever reported, at least to the extent that Snopes has been able to assess. Since sussing out the real news from the fake is basically why the outlet exists, we tend to take their word for it. Snopes reported that the fictitious story of the man that became paralyzed after eating too many chicken nuggets first appeared on the satire website, 8Satire.
However, that wasn't the first time some version of the story made its way from a satire site to legitimate news outlets mistakenly reporting it as fact. In 2013, the satire site Rock City Times, published a piece about a man that went into a coma after eating 413 Red Lobster Biscuits. Apparently, this bit of hilarity was picked up as legit news by several foreign news outlets — including the U.K.'s Daily Star and Daily Mirror, and Canada's Globe. So, the next time you read something that sounds just too strange to be true, it just might be.