Ever gone lurking in the attic or basement of your new home and wish you hadn’t?
That’s what happened to one couple who made a grim discovery below their house. Taking to Reddit, a woman explained how she came into possession of a creepy mask, sharing a snap of the unsettling-looking item.
“We found a radiation mask in the basement of my boyfriend’s new house,” she began on the Weird subreddit, prompting others to speculate its purpose. “I presume that is where he grafts the skin of his victims,” one Reddit user responded.
“Are you sure that’s not a fencing mask? asked another. “Maybe an old one from the 70s.” The conversation soon took a dark turn, however, after the mask’s finder revealed what it had been used for in the past.
“It belonged to the man who lived here before him,” she explained. “He had cancer and passed away.” One Reddit user familiar with such contraptions added: “I’m a radiation therapist so I work with these on the daily. It’s a head and neck Orfit for cancer treatment. You can even see that the therapists had to cut a circle out of the mask because the patient probably had a port and the the mask was pressing down on it.”
Scores more Redditors soon expressed their grief at the discovery, with one commenting: “Take a moment and reflect on the loss of life for a family, be thankful for the chance you have. Then remember all things come to pass to include all of us. To this representative of this mask RIP.”
A second added: “This just makes me sad. My grandma had radiation and I felt so awful when she explained the process to me, and about having to be pinned down using this mask. Seeing what it actually looks like makes me feel even worse. Hate that anyone has to go through this.”
Whilst a third detailed their own experience: “I found it very scary the first time it’s used. It REALLY pins you down! Realising I could breathe just fine helped me to endure it. The processes weren’t all that bad. They offered me the mask when the treatments were finished, but I turned it down. I’d seen enough of that thing!”
According to Cancer Research UK, a mould technician or radiographer makes the mask in the mould room of the radiotherapy department or during patients’ CT planning scans.
“The process of making a mask can vary slightly between hospitals,” the charity explains. “Most often they use a special kind of plastic heated in warm water or an oven so that it becomes soft and pliable.”
“The technician puts the plastic mesh on to your face so that it moulds to fit your face exactly. It feels a little like having a warm flannel put onto your face. You can still breathe easily, as the plastic has lots of holes in it. After a few minutes the plastic mesh becomes hard. The technician takes the mask off. It is then ready for use.”
