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On the evening of February 19, 1994, 31-year-old Gloria Ramirez was rushed to the emergency room of General Hospital in Riverside, California.

Her heart rate was high, and her blood pressure, low.

She was having trouble breathing, appeared confused,

and had difficulty responding to questions. Paramedics told medical staff that Gloria was also in the late stages of advanced cervical cancer, which she'd only been diagnosed with six weeks

earlier. But the terminal illness could not account for the symptoms she was experiencing.

Hospital staff set to work. Following standard protocol, they administered multiple drugs as they

attempted to stabilize her. Some were meant to sedate her, while others were given to stabilize

her heart rate. At the same time, Staff manually pumped her lungs

with air. But Gloria was not responding in the way Staff were expecting. The next step was to use a

defibrillator to shock her heart into a regular rhythm. To attach the electrodes to her chest,

hospital staff removed Gloria's clothes.

When they did, they noticed that her skin appeared to be covered with an oily residue.

They also noticed an odor that could be best described as garlic on Gloria's breath.

The hospital needed a blood sample, but when the nurse began to draw Gloria's blood,

she noticed a strong chemical odor.

She passed the syringe to a respiratory therapist who was also working on Gloria.

The staff knew that Gloria's cancer was being treated by chemotherapy,

which can sometimes make blood smell like chemicals.

But Gloria's blood smelled differently than expected.

It smelled like ammonia.

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