How far would you go for a personal best?

[Gelert]

I thought it was a myth, but unless this has been expertly photoshopped, obviously this guy proves not. I thought it was worth sharing more or less as a cautionary tale that your muscles' limits may be greater than those of your intestines.

Warning: Don't click on the link unless you want to see a disturbing image. It could be worse, but it's not a watercolour painting.

http://poetry.rotten.com/weightlifter/

Horrible socks too.

I mean, following through in the name of your sport is a bit much, but prolapsing your intestines?

Be careful guys and girls.

[ninearms]

Definitely photoshopped. No shoes on, facing the corner of a wall, plus the bit about "pulled his stomach in" (any serious lifter knows to push out, not in). Plus Snopes says so.

[Gelert]

I had my reservations, but from an anatomical point of view I'm not quite so convinced, it kind of looks like other cases of bitties hanging out. I'm no expert though.

I would suspect there is a fair chance that this picture (if genuine) was taken post-lift, thus explaining the lack of shoes. I'm not sure what it's like in the litigation culture of the US but its not uncommon for victims of unusual trauma to be asked to pose for "interest" shots by both medical photographers and the enthusiastic layman.

Equally, long socks plus leotard - if the photo is genuine but the backstory false, what else would he have been up to?

[ninearms]

I can think of other reasons why someone why likes wearing lycra might have a rectal prolapse. Notice how there's no tearing, which would suggest to me that he had a pretty flappy crack to begin with. I'd suggest that if it isn't photoshopped it's more likely to be the result of some vigorous interaction between his arse and another gentleman's fist, or a large rubber penis.

[JP]

this is an old image which has been circling around the net for a while

fake i'm afraid

(sorry but have to move this to the general discussion )

[Gelert]

Ah. Bummer.

In the fake category, if he stayed like that for "half an hour" because it was too painful to move, how could he get his shoes off?

In the "true" category, if it's been shopped or staged, someone has gone to a lot of effort with the injury itself. I'm not saying that proves its truth, but there is fairly good attention to detail in either the shopping or the prostheses which is not matched by the attention to detail to surrounds.

Ninearms, your theory about the other possible explanation jives with the hole in the lycra, although I would personally find doing anything to anyone with those socks on highly offputting. It never ceases to amaze me what floats people's boats. That said, there is probably a niche out there for some specialist powerlifting roleplay. I did put all the possible variables into an explainometer and it reached the conclusion that Buzz is probably involved somewhere.

So, from the slightly disgusting but innocent, we now move to something a little more disturbing as a hypothesis:

Powerlifting fetishism? Discuss.

[JP]

had to search this for you mate

http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/prolapse.asp

snopes debunk from 2006.

[Gelert]

Aye, I'd seen the snopes debunk, which accounts for the backstory but not the photo. Still anyone's guess how/if it occurred. I suspect the photo is indeed genuine, but doesn't depict what the accompanying text describes.

It is certainly possible to evert your intestines given sufficient force (e.g. being run over by a motor vehicle).

[ninearms]

I think my guess is almost certainly the likely cause. A quick Google will pull up a fair few sites specialising in such things. Apparently it's known as a "red rose"...

[Gelert]

So does the red rose refer to the injury or the dressing up as a powerlifter?

I know what I'm guessing, but I'm not googling it from work.

[ninearms]

Your guess is correct. And it's probably deliberate, not accidental. Some people are very weird.

[Gelert]

Understatement.

Oh well, at least it's not the powerlifting fetish thing. That would be far, far worse.

[ninearms]

I thought liking fat, hairy guys was pretty mainstream.

[Gelert]

Ahh, ninearms, that's where your perception has been a bit warped by the social norms of the company you keep

[ninearms]

I'm just going on what I was told by the chaps at the Blue Oyster Bar. Are you suggesting I've been misled?