You're not going to give me the umbrella, are you?

of 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. Of the 12 cases of probable perforation, including the two previously described in the literature, at least five involved the cervical or upper dorsal oesophagus with only one definite pharyngeal perforation. The other injuries were either lower down or the exact level of perforation was uncertain. All these patients survived, and no contacts of the association have died as a direct result of sword swallowing and no deaths have been reported in the medical literature. There is historical evidence elsewhere, however, and deaths from swallowing swords and other items such as neon tubes are described on the internet (www.swordswallow.com/ halloffame.php).