Sword-Swallower Impales Himself on Stage

(NewsCore) - An experienced British sword-swallower was taken to the hospital after ripping a four-inch hole in his esophagus during a show in northern England.

The performer, known as Hannibul Hellmurto, got into difficulties when he swallowed an electric-powered glass tube filled with mercury during a show in Bradford, the Weston Mercury newspaper reported.

Miraculously, he finished his show but collapsed after coming off stage and was rushed to the Bradford Royal Infirmary, where he spent three weeks receiving medical care.

Hellmurto, a former German tax official, could not swallow anything for five weeks and had to be fed through a tube while the hole in his esophagus healed.

But the 40-year-old daredevil did not let the incident put him off his work, and he returned to the stage this week.

Read more: Weston Mercury