A grocery shopper in the United Kingdom was reportedly knocked unconscious after a discounted cauliflower fell on her head.

Sammi Mai, a resident of Kingston-upon-Thames, England, told GB News that she was recently browsing a discount rack at a Waitrose grocery store in Bath when the vegetable hit the back of her head.

“Suddenly a really large and heavy item fell down on the top of my head, and hit my head,” the shopper recalled. “I fell and when I woke up, I was suffering [from a] concussion and was knocked out.”

Cauliflowers tend to weigh around two pounds, and Mai says the brassica fell between four and six feet before hitting her head.

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Mai later told the Sun that she is still experiencing a variety of symptoms – from neck pain to anxiety – and that the incident has had a damaging impact on her health. She said she is considering legal action against the chain.

“I was very unwell, and I’m still suffering and unable to work,” Mai claimed. “I don’t know how the cauliflower fell but they should not store heavy, roundish items like that on the top shelf.”

“The staff just put it back on the top shelf so they were not treating the incident seriously,” she added.

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The incident happened at a Waitrose supermarket in Bath, England. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

Waitrose told Fox News Digital that they were aware of the situation and that the shopper received medical assistance at the time.

“Our customer was seen immediately by a trained first-aider at the time of the accident, and we are sorry to hear she is unwell,” a company spokesperson said. “We take customer safety incredibly seriously and have thoroughly investigated this case – but will consider any new information she wishes to share with us.”

An employee stacks shelves at a Waitrose supermarket in London on Dec. 29, 2021.

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Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel told Fox News Digital that, though a significant brain injury is unlikely to have resulted from the incident, “anything is possible.”

“A cauliflower is soft, and even falling four feet, it is unlikely that it would cause significant head trauma,” Siegel explained. “Though again, anything is possible.”

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Dr. Marc Siegel encourages anyone suffering from a concussion to see a physician. (iStock)

The physician also noted that neck pain and nausea are all symptoms of a blow to the head, even if a concussion was unlikely in the incident’s circumstances. Siegel advised anyone suffering from a concussion to seek medical help.

“If you have headache, visual changes, dizziness, nausea, confusion, a concussion is possible following a blow to the head,” he explained. “See a physician: if the symptoms are significant enough, it will require a CT or MRI.”

“I would also decrease activity while having these symptoms.”

Human life expectancy has potentially been pushed to the max, new research suggests.

The recent increase in people’s longevity appears to be slowing down despite new developments in medicine, according to a study published in the journal Nature Aging.

During the 20th century, human life expectancy at birth rose by about 30 years in high-income nations, the study noted, driven by advancements in public health.

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Researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) analyzed the national vital statistics of the longest-living populations in Australia, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as Hong Kong and the United States, from 1990 to 2019.

Since 1990, the average life span has only risen 6-½ years in the countries in the study, which casts doubt on expectations that human life expectancy would exceed 100 years in people born today.

The researchers concluded that overall life expectancy improvements have slowed down, and that radical human life extension is “implausible in this century” unless the biological aging process can be “markedly slowed.”

‘Diminishing gains’

Study co-author S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UIC, shared his reaction in a conversation with Fox News Digital.

“The power of medicine to extend human life is extraordinary.”

“We’re demonstrating what actually happened in all of these populations in the last three decades,” he wrote in an email. “The decline in improvement was particularly pronounced in the United States.”

“As long as aging is unchanged, life extension through disease reduction must yield diminishing gains — that’s the overall conclusion in this paper.”

“The period of rapid increases in life expectancy is over,” the researchers concluded.  (iStock)

The researcher also suggested that most people past age 60 are living on “manufactured time,” meaning they’re surviving on new medical technology.

“We should all be grateful that these life-extending technologies work, because without them, we would be living much shorter lives,” he said.

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Olshansky explained that humans were not made to live as long as they do now, as the natural life expectancy for humans is 30 to 60 years.

“This means the vast majority of the population that now lives past age 60 is living on survival time that was manufactured by medicine,” he said. “The power of medicine to extend human life is extraordinary.”

One of the study authors (not pictured) suggested that humans are surviving on time manufactured by modern medicine. (iStock)

Medical interventions for disease reduction could be considered “temporary” bandages, according to Olshansky.

“Living longer means we’re exposing ourselves to the currently immutable force of biological aging – which has already become the dominant risk factor for death in high-income countries,” he said.

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More than 30 years ago, researchers predicted that medicine would advance at “breakneck speed,” but that life expectancy wouldn’t follow, Olshansky noted.

“The prediction has come true and … the period of rapid increases in life expectancy is over,” he said. 

Aging is tied to inflammation, one doctor noted, which can be treated with available medications. (iStock)

Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, who was not involved in the study, shared his opinion of the findings.

“I disagree with this because aging is tied to inflammation,” he told Fox News Digital. 

“Current treatments (metformin, Lipitor, Ozempic, etc.) and diet strategies, as well as newer treatments in the works, may decrease oxidative stress, inflammation and insulin resistance, all of which contribute to cellular longevity,” the doctor added.

‘Control what we can control’

The time has come for people to focus on healthspan extension, not lifespan extension, according to Olshansky.

“This paper represents the strongest empirical evidence supporting the need to slow aging, because the [bandages] we’re now creating may produce an expansion of our carespan – especially if they make us live longer and deeper into the aging red zone, where frailty and disability dominate.”

“We now have the rationale for why healthspan extension should be our primary goal going forward,” a researcher (not pictured) told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

Olshansky advised the public to “control what we can control” and to avoid activities that shorten lifespan, such as unhealthy eating, smoking and substance abuse.

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The scientist also encouraged people to take advantage of access to medicine by visiting their doctor and taking prescribed medications.

“Take advantage of the social determinants of health — education and access to medical care — because these interventions work to increase the chances of living longer and healthier,” he said.

“And then focus on extending the most precious commodity on earth — healthy life.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic response, is speaking out about his “terrifying” bout with West Nile virus (WNV) in August.

In an op-ed in The New York Times on Monday, the former top infectious-disease official, now 83, wrote that he believes he caught the virus from a mosquito bite while outdoors at his Washington home.

He chalked up his weakness and fatigue to lingering COVID symptoms at first, until he “became delirious and incoherent with a temperature of 103 degrees,” leading to a six-day hospitalization.

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“After I spent more than 50 years chasing and fighting viruses, one fought back and nearly took me down,” Fauci wrote.

“There is no treatment for West Nile virus disease, and I was left to deal with its toll on my body.”

He described the experience as “terrifying” and “harrowing.”

“A very scary part of the ordeal was the effect on my cognition,” Fauci said. 

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“I was disoriented, unable to remember certain words, asking questions of my family that I should have known answers to.”

“I was afraid that I would never recover and return to normal.”

Fauci has since recovered, stating that the cognitive symptoms have subsided and he is now walking several miles each day.

“I was afraid that I would never recover and return to normal.”

“I tell my story because West Nile virus is a disease that, for many people, can have devastating and permanent consequences,” he wrote.

In the op-ed, Fauci called for more resources to address the threat of West Nile, which can have “devastating and permanent consequences.”

What to know about West Nile virus

As of Oct. 8, there have been 976 West Nile virus cases in the U.S. across 46 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Among those, 684 cases were neuroinvasive (severe).

Since the West Nile virus first entered the U.S. in 1999, it has become the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the country.

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In most cases, the West Nile virus — a flavivirus in the same family as yellow fever, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and the Zika virus — is spread when Culex mosquitoes bite infected birds and then bite people and other animals, per the CDC’s website.

“I tell my story because West Nile virus is a disease that, for many people, can have devastating and permanent consequences,” Fauci wrote. (CBS)

The virus is not transmitted through eating or handling infected animals or birds — nor is it spread through physical contact, coughing or sneezing.

A vast majority — around 80% — of the people who contract the virus will not experience any symptoms, the CDC states on its website.

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“It causes a rash and other symptoms, including swollen lymph nodes, which other viruses in its class do not exhibit,” Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, previously told Fox News Digital.

“It only affects the nervous system 1% of the time and is rarely fatal.”

Around one in five people will develop febrile illness, which is marked by a fever along with body aches, headache, joint pain, diarrhea, rash and/or vomiting. 

The virus only affects the nervous system 1% of the time and is rarely fatal.

These symptoms usually go away on their own, but some people may have lingering weakness and fatigue months after infection.

In rare cases — about one in every 150 infected people — the virus can lead to serious conditions affecting the nervous system, such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord), the CDC states on its website.

Those who develop serious illness may experience headache, stiff neck, high fever, disorientation, vision loss, muscle weakness, convulsions, tremors, coma or paralysis, which occur when there is viral infection of the central nervous system.

Among people who have this invasive form of the illness, around 10% will die.

It affects the nervous system 1% of the time and is rarely fatal, statistics show.

Since the West Nile virus first entered the U.S. in 1999, it has become the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the country. (iStock)

While anyone can potentially develop severe illness, the highest-risk groups include those over 60 years of age, people who have had organ transplants and those with diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, kidney disease, immune disorders and other certain medical conditions.

“The virus’ effects can be quite serious in the elderly,” Siegel noted.

Diagnosis and treatment

Those who think they might have been infected with WNV should be assessed by a health care provider, the CDC states.

Diagnosis of the infection can be made based on evaluation of symptoms, recent exposure to mosquitoes and testing of blood or spinal fluid.

The most effective means of prevention is to protect against mosquito bites by using insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and taking steps to control exposure to mosquitoes. (iStock)

Health care providers will typically recommend treating symptoms with over-the-counter pain medications and getting plenty of rest and fluids.

Those who experience severe illness may need to be hospitalized for supportive care.

Preventing the virus

There is currently no vaccine for West Nile virus.

“The virus can be contained through public health measures including more insect repellent with DEET, longer sleeves and less stagnant water in our backyards,” Siegel said.

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Trying to kill adult mosquitoes by spreading too much insecticide can be problematic, the doctor warned. 

“Animals, people with asthma and insects that would otherwise kill the mosquitoes are affected.”

The most effective means of prevention is to protect against mosquito bites, the CDC confirmed.

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The agency’s recommendations include using insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and taking steps to control exposure to mosquitoes — particularly at dawn and dusk.

Eliminating any standing water outdoors can help prevent mosquitoes from breeding.