Man who could never smell gets corrective surgery and has insane realisation after experimenting with scents
Getting a whiff of freshly baked goods or a bunch of fresh flowers can really brighten your day - but unfortunately for this fella, he has never enjoyed this small luxury in life.
James Odgers, better known online as Chewbonic, explained that he hasn't had the ability to smell for 'as long as he can remember'.
But that all changed last year, when the YouTuber underwent a corrective procedure to try and restore his sense.
The 22-year-old said that he only realised he was 'nose blind' - a condition which is clinically referred to as anosmia - after a doctor had a look up his hooter and referred him to an ENT specialist.
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In a video documenting his health journey, which was shared in December, James explained: "They found a lot of issues with my nose, but the one thing they did not find is why the hell I can't smell.
"But despite the unknown, they said they could try and fix me. So they put me on a waiting list and I heard nothing for about two years, until finally I got a phone call."
According to the content creator, who often collaborates with the Beta Squad, medics informed him that there was only a 15 percent chance of him getting his smell back.
James admitted these weren't exactly great odds, however, he wanted to remain optimistic.
He explained that the fact his nose doesn't work as normal hasn't got him down too much over the years, but he couldn't help but feel 'envious' that others could smell five specific scents.
The London-born social media star said the first order of business post-surgery would be sticking his schnozzle near some blue cheese, petrol, chlorine, aftershave... and his 'riends' breath.
Due to the fact he had been navigating life without his sense of smell, James revealed he never got to choose his own signature scent.
Instead, he has been plastering himself in the same Lacoste cologne as his dad for the last two decades - and he wants to know if it actually smells any good.
On the day of the surgery, the lad had a quick chat with the doctor who explained he 'couldn't guarantee' that the procedure would be a success.
"Even though this news was very disappointing, it was too late to back out now," James said.
The content creator didn't specify exactly what he had done, however, patients who suffer from anosmia typically undergo endoscopic sinus or nasal surgery.
According to Houston Advanced Sinus, these methods can 'deliver a dramatic result by healing smell loss by the root, by removing the polyps causing the issue'.
A groggy James later explained that he had emerged from the procedure with a very tender throat, and at this stage of the game, he couldn't 'even breathe, let alone smell'.
He was able to breathe normally by the following day, but his sense of smell didn't turn up - and by the time nine days had passed since his operation, there was still nothing.
"Every day without success, my chances decreased substantially," he continued. "It's been about 10 days now and they said if there's nothing by the two week mark, then probably give it up.
"I have a very strong growing feeling that all of this was for nothing and that it's not going to work."
But by day 13, James began to notice some changes after waking up with a 'pretty gross' taste in his mouth, explaining he was experiencing a weird 'sensation' in his nose.
"I didn't want to get too excited, as I wasn't certain this was linked to my smell," he said. "So I waited a few hours to let the feeling settle and then tried the ultimate test to see if my operation was truly a success."
To confirm it wasn't just a placebo effect, he doused his wrist in perfume and gave it a good smell - and incredibly, James was able to detect the scent.
So after taking a few days to readjust to life with a working nose, the YouTuber got down to business and conducted an experiment to 'see how strong' his sense was.
After showing his nose what it has been missing all of these years, James shared some statistics to explain how many scents he could pick up on.
"It turns out that out of everything that was presented under my nose, I could smell 76.47% of it," he said.
"My smell accuracy, however - [meaning] how well I could describe the smell of something and if my description of it would be accurate to other people's - was 67.5%.
"So there's a few items where my brain completely misinterpreted what they are meant to smell like and it just took it for something else."
For example, he reckoned that fabric softener smelt similar to Haribo gummy bears, while a bar of chocolate 'smelled how bicycle tracks look' - and most bizarrely, James said mosquito repellent was 'like a dessert'.
"This has been very interesting," he added. "There's a lot of smells that I thought I'd like that I hate and a lot of smells that I thought I'd hate but I loved."
Now for the big five - and James started off with his beloved blue cheese, making sure to pick up one of the 'smelliest' ones you can find in UK supermarkets.
Despite having high hopes for his favourite food, the YouTuber admitted that he thought it smelt 'terrible'.
He added: "I can't believe how bad that is, that is foul! Oh wow, we shouldn't be eating this as human beings."
Next, was petrol - and I'm sure I don't need to remind you that this is really not good for you, so don't take a leaf out of this lad's book.
According to James, this was also 'terrible'...but at the same time, he said it was 'kind of addictive' and 'unique.
The most important test came third, as he was about to find out whether or not his aftershave has been doing him any favours for all of these years.
"I like that," he said. "I couldn't tell you what it smells like, though. It's good, which is a great surprise."
As I'm sure you can imagine, testing whether he could smell his mate's pongy breath was only ever going to end one way.
"All of their breath smelt diabolical," James went on. "I don't know how they're allowed to roam the streets with fumes like that coming out of their mouth."
And last but not least, the content creator wanted to find out whether he would be a fan of chlorine or not, so he headed to a swimming pool to have a good sniff of it.
"That is unlike any of the other smells," he said. "That's nice, it smells warm. It's like salty, but a good salty you know.
"Wow, I love water as well so this is perfect. Now is the perfect time to tell you guys, I'll smell you later."
Hilariously, James then added: "I discovered while editing that the smell of chlorine is actually produced by human pee and sweat... so uh my favourite smell actually is piss. How disgusting."
A year on from his operation, James says although being able to smell hasn't completely changed his life, it certainly 'makes it way more fun'.
"I just think it's cool how so many things in life have their own unique smell which is almost like their identification," he said.
"And while so many of them smell terrible, the good ones make it worthwhile."
Olivia Burke