Nick Hanscom was a patient who had an exposed carotid artery after a tumor resection.
History[]
Nick had had a large tumor removed from his carotid. Mark Sloan was able to get good margins, but Nick was left with only a flap of skin covering his carotid artery. Because of this, the concern was that it would rupture. Mark said that if that happened, whoever was in the room needed to stop the bleeding and page him immediately.
Lexie examined him several times that day. When Lexie came in upset, he asked her about it. He joked with her and started to laugh. While he was laughing, his artery burst, spraying blood all over Lexie. ("Crash Into Me, Part 1")
Lexie quickly jumped in to stop the bleeding. He was shocked that it actually happened. After she stopped the bleeding, Lexie had Nick use his phone to call the nurses' station so she could page Mark and call a code.
They tried to hang blood to transfuse, but they couldn't get a good vein because he'd lost so much blood and his veins were flaccid. They were able to start transfusing and then they prepared to move him to the OR. He had a stroke and then they rushed him to the OR. Because the OR wasn't available, they moved him to a sterile procedure room. In the procedure room, Mark attempted to stop the bleeding and repair his carotid, but he was unsuccessful and Nick was pronounced dead. ("Crash Into Me, Part 2")
Relationships[]
Romantic[]
He had an ex-girlfriend who dumped him because of his neck tumor. He described her as a nice girl disguised as a vapid narcissist, though it turned out she was really just a vapid narcissist. ("Crash Into Me, Part 1")
Familial[]
His parents got on a plane from California to come to Seattle after he died. ("Crash Into Me, Part 2")
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
| Grey's Anatomy, Season 4 | |||||
| #01 | "A Change is Gonna Come" | #07 | "Physical Attraction... Chemical Reaction" | #13 | "Piece of My Heart" |
| #02 | "Love/Addiction" | #08 | "Forever Young" | #14 | "The Becoming" |
| #03 | "Let the Truth Sting" | #09 | "Crash Into Me, Part 1" | #15 | "Losing My Mind" |
| #04 | "The Heart of the Matter" | #10 | "Crash Into Me, Part 2" | #16 | "Freedom, Part 1" |
| #05 | "Haunt You Every Day" | #11 | "Lay Your Hands on Me" | #17 | "Freedom, Part 2" |
| #06 | "Kung Fu Fighting" | #12 | "Where the Wild Things Are" | ||