He bit his nails until it killed him.
A 40-year-old British man had such a chronic nail biting habit that it led to a fatal infection, an inquest into his death found.
John Gardener, from Lancashire, contracted septicemia because the skin around his fingernails was constantly open to the point of bleeding, doctors said, according to a report in the Mirror.
The blood infection affected his heart, triggering a heart attack days after his 40th birthday. He died in the hospital after doctors worked for two weeks to save him.
Gardener's habit stemmed from anxiety and depression that intensified in the years leading up to his death, despite receiving mental health treatment, doctors said.
He was also a diabetic, and had his lower right leg amputated in 2011 after experiencing severe leg ulcers related to diabetes.
Gardener had the tip of one finger removed and was treated with antibiotics following his heart emergency, but passed away suddenly despite having shown signs of improvement, medical experts determined.
Gardener's general practitioner Dr. Daniel Vernon said his patient had lost all feeling and sensation in his fingertips due to his habit.
“John’s nails were always in poor condition and they were often bleeding when he came to the doctors,” Vernon said.
The coroner at the inquest, Alan Walsh, said he believed Gardener — who worked as an amateur soccer referee — "had a difficult life" after being diagnosed with diabetes as a baby and coping with twice-daily injections.
“This is a death of great sadness to everybody — his death happened so suddenly," Walsh said.
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