Confirmed: sword swallowing is dangerous

For some reason, the British Medical Journal thought it was important to do a medical study of sword swallowing. Not surprisingly, this was the first study of it's kind. Also not surprisingly, it concluded that the profession is dangerous.

But how dangerous?

According to the report, one of the most common causes of accidents, is "distraction." For example: "...one swallower lacerated his pharynx when trying to swallow a curved sabre, a second lacerated his oesophagus and developed pleurisy after being distracted by a misbehaving macaw on his shoulder, and a belly dancer suffered a major haemorrhage when a bystander pushed dollar bills into her belt causing three blades in her oesophagus to scissor."

Conclusion: if you're interested in the sword-swallowing profession, be careful. And learn to focus.

[via Boing Boing]