It was a hot Texas summer day

As many of you know, I used to be in law enforcement. I worked as a street cop for a few years and also spent time working in the prison as well. When I worked as a cop, I worked a pretty bad area in Texas and when I worked in the prison, I worked death row, the gang unit and the mental health ward.

As you can guess, I have some pretty crazy stories from all of those years. I was talking to some people about some of them and they thought it would be fun to read about some of the stories if I put them in a series of posts.

I was still a rookie cop on a hot Texas summer day when I was dispatched to a home. I don't remember what the call was titled, maybe a welfare check or something like that, but when I got to the home, my Lieutenant was outside of the front door and told me that there was an open window on the side of the home and that I needed to go in through the window and clear the home.

So as a good rookie, I climbed through the window, drew my weapon and began to clear the home with my field trainer. Everything was going fine until we got near the master bedroom and then it started to smell a bit off.

When I got into the room, the smell began to get stronger. I approached the master bathroom and pushed the door open. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and nothing can really prepare you for it either.

As the door opened, I saw a deceased elderly woman in a night gown sitting on the toilet. Her head was leaning to the side against the sink. I knew she had been there dead on the toilet for a while because her body had leaked almost all of her juices on the bathroom floor and there was a layer of ooze about an inch deep on the bathroom floor.

I called in the body and we waited for the mortuary services to show up. During that time, we tried to get in touch with any family of the woman, but her nearest living relative was in Florida in prison, so that would explain why it took so long for anyone to report anything.

As I was looking around in the home, it was in immaculate condition. She kept a very clean home and in her hallway she had a calendar that was on January. It was almost June, so I would guess that she had been there since some time in January.

She also had some pictures of herself up in the home and she was a rather large woman in the pictures, but her body in the bathroom was pretty skinny. Her skin on her legs was extremely thin due to gravity pulling down on it and her bones in her legs were almost pushing through.

The mortuary service finally showed up and there was only one of them. So as the rookie cop, I was tasked with assisting to remove her body from the bathroom and load her up on a stretcher so they could transport her.

Now this was not something that I was particularly looking forward to. I knew that she had been there for a very long time and I did not want to touch her, let alone have to pick her up. What came next was something that they don't teach you in the academy and there is no way to prepare for it.

The smell of a dead body is something that sticks with you for a while, but one that has been sitting for months and now it is in the Texas heat is on a whole nother level. So as a good rookie, I did what I was told and grabbed one side of her while the mortuary person got the other. As we lifted her up off the toilet, her skin began to tear and give way, and yep, you guessed it, everything that was inside of her was now coming outside of her as she began to rip open.

Now that smell was far worse than anything I have ever experienced in my life. I don't really know how to explain it, but let me tell you that it was pretty bad. Now add the fact that she was spilling all over the floor and splashing the ooze that was already there all over my boots and pants. I am not really sure what happened next because it seemed like a mad dash to get her onto the body bag that was on the stretcher so all of her insides did not come outside.

We got her loaded and then I had to excuse myself from the room. I didn't puke, but I came close to doing so many times during that whole ordeal. I did not return into the bathroom to assist cleaning up her body parts, but I did go outside to the backyard and hosed my boots and pant legs off. I ended up going home after this call so that I could change and throw away my uniform because there is no way to get that smell out of your clothes.

I have been on some calls after that one where there were some pretty bad smells, but nothing can compete with having a dead body that had been sitting for nearly six months break open on you and spill all over the floor.

What is the worst smell that you have ever experienced? I hope that you enjoyed this story. It is a lot different than what I normally post, but I know that some people have wanted to hear about some of the stuff I have gone through. If this series is something that you want more of, let me know.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read my story. Hopefully it didn't gross you out too much.