To wonder how people can cope with smells worse than this!?

Do you not think you have a duty of care to report this? Or are they an adult?

We had that in my old workplace, too. It was a very old building with lots of little gaps, we couldn't work out where it was. Once the smell finally went the flies all hatched. How many flies can emerge from a dead mouse? The answer is way more than you are thinking.

I (Paramedic) went to a mentally ill alcoholic who had urine of various ages in bowls, glasses and bottles throughout the house, the floor, walls and toilet were covered with diarrohea. There was a lovely community first responder at scene who prewarned me, but even so I walked in, walked out again, took a deep breath, composed myself and went back in, my eyes where literally stinging and watering.

We had a regular caller 'the reverand' who was a chronic alcoholic and wholey unpleasent man, but to his credit he did try to make healthy dietary choices when he was soberish, the problem was he'd always pick up alcohol at the same time, and depending how desperate he was for the drink would determine how far past the front door his shopping made it, and therefore there would be food in various states of decomposition throughout the downstairs. He was particularly fond of brassicas.

But in 20 years the longest deceased person I've been to is only 5 days, so I think I'm doing well there!

I can confirm durian tastes as bad as it smells. I bought some because everyone said it was delicious. Er no.

This?!?

We had to rip out built in cupboards due a dead mouse!

There was a very old lady who frequented the supermarket restaurant I worked in who smelled like this

We had a dead mouse in my airing cupboard for a day or 2 and it absolutely janked

I work in a supermarket and a customer came in while clearly having a mental health crisis. I stayed with him for a few hours while trying to get help from the emergency services but eventually had to just put him in a taxi home. He absolutely stank though and when I got home I took my uniform off but I could still smell him so had to have a shower and wash my hair. I’ve never smelt anything like it in my life!

I used to cope with the smell of decomposing flesh when I was nursing the elderly, who sometimes had pressure sores or fungating tumours, infected legs etc. We'd put some vicks vapour rub under our noses and then put a mask on. Sometimes masks weren't available, so we'd just have the vapour rub.

With pressure area care equipment improvements, it's more unusual to come across open sores now thankfully. One of the worst smells I encountered was pancreatic enzymes from a constantly leaking vacuum dressing. I can't describe the smell, but it was all down the corridor and lasted for a long time after the person had died.

My siblings partner is from Asia though they both live in the uk now and she loves durian. My sibling always goes on about how disgusting it smells! 😅It must taste nice though as his partner always buys some when it's in stock.

Just hope you never smell Gangrene!!!

I worked in a high street bakery back in the early 90s. There was a god awful smell that just got worse and worse, especially in the mornings. They finally realised that there were loads of dead rats behind the huge bread ovens that were decomposing, and when the ovens got turned on every morning they got cooked a little bit as well. It was horrific. Customers stopped coming in after a while but management decided to just leave the rats to carry on decomposing until there was nothing left, rather than go go to the effort of moving the ovens 🤮 I didn't stay there for long after that!

Also, same place had a fly zapper which made me jump every time. The worst was when a huge beautiful moth got stuck in it and got repeatedly zapped for ages. It absolutely stank (not as bad as the rats did though!) and fizzed away for so long we had to get a stick to flick it out!!

Ah you've beat me!! I was just going to post about finding dead seals on a beach. Shockingly bad.

Smell memory really sticks doesn't it, we used to walk our dog along the river bank , but after a spate of really bad weather, we couldn't get down to the flat gravelly area that she used to pad across and swim from, as it was in flood for about a week. Once the floodwater subsided we were able to get down there again but were greeted by an almighty stench, looked around and there was a decomposing sheep caught in a big fallen tree branch , poor thing must have got caught in the floodwater and drowned. I've never forgotten that smell and it was 25 years ago

Came into theatres for an early shift one morning. During the night a woman was operated on as she had a clot blocking the main artery to her intestines which had pretty much died as had no blood supply for some time. The overnight specimens hadn’t yet gone to pathology so being nosy I took the lid off a large tub containing said entrails to have a look. Believe me, the appalling stench of several pounds of dead intestines stays with you a long, long time.

Dead birds hidden under the stairs by dear cat !
And leg ulcers

I've looked after people with gangrene (wet and dry) in care homes. That's pretty bad.
Even worse, there was a man who died in my flats last year in the heatwave. He wasn't found for three weeks.

Forget my rat story, I actually think a rotten potato is as bad!! You have reminded me of when I house sat for my parents. There was an unreal smell.in their kitchen which turned out to be a single potato, with maggots 🤢
I can't really look at potatoes since that!

When I was pregnant, and only when I was pregnant, my 'darling' cat started hiding dead rats in the house.
My sense of smell and hormones were so heightened it often made me cry!
I couldn't get that smell out of my nostrils, despite trying to sterilise the house! It is inexplicable how bad it truly was!

My job involves gangrene most days. You never get used to it.

Yes. First dead body in a house (one that had been there a bit) my husband went to (police) he was given some petty cash and told to go and get some Vicks to put round his nostrils . This is a long time ago I think the petty cash thing probably doesn’t happen how!

I suppose after a while there’s nothing to smell. I’ve just read “the girls” they put a body in the septic tank and they can smell it.

The bug zapper frightens the life out of me every time it claims a victim. The very first time I heard it, I thought it was a gun!

As for smells, I work in the waste industry. Decomposing food waste in hot weather 🤮

@redtagalan- just how big is your house that you can fit a dead whale in it?

My friend served in the Falklands and still talks about the smell of a dead elephant seal on the beach.

Lecturer - so this person (who has no disclosures of mental health problems, although I appreciate they may have MH issues they chose not to disclose) is choosing their choices as opposed to a parent not taking care of them.

We had this. The smell getting worse for days and I couldn’t find the mouse anywhere. Then I went to close the curtains and found it. It was stuck decomposing in a fold of my grey velvet mouse coloured floor length curtains!

It had died with its claws embedded in the curtain having climbed up it to escape the cats I imagine!

I had the same thought as you and now struggle with the smell of my then favourite candle as it now reminds me of decomposing mouse!

Dead bodies must be mouse x 1000 surely?!

I remember a dead whale being washed up on a local beach. For some reasons crowds of locals ( me and my dad included) went to watch it being cut up for removal.

50 years later I can still remember that awful smell.