Move over, Magnetic Boy: there’s a new hero in town

Ah-CHOO!

Magnetic Boy, the subject of a few earlier articles of mine (see “Practical Uses for Magnetic Boy in the metal industry” and “An Update on Magnetic Boy“), as well as the subject of international attention for his supposedly magnetic properties, has in recent weeks been given a run for his money. Money is something he should have plenty of, since he could just go beach-combing for buried treasure whenever he’s short on cash, and return home with a bounty of gold doubloons stuck to his chest – but I digress. As if it’s not bad enough that insinuations of fraud and “fake” continue to circulate, including accusations of our wonder-boy being just “plump and sticky” rather than being a true prophet of a new age, he has also had to put up with other relatively plump and sticky copycats trying to steal his spotlight by claiming – and demonstrating — their own magnetic powers. Maybe it’s something in the water, but all of these Magnetic Boys seem to hail from somewhere in the Eastern European area. Or maybe it’s simply a geographic hotbed of X-boys, spawned from the high ratio of radioactive exposure this geographical area has seen in the last generation.

Be that as it may, there are two individuals whose own talents frankly surpass those of Magnetic Boy. The first is a 20 year-old Chinese man by the name of Wu Zhilong, who can make bowl-like objects suction to his belly so firmly that he can actually pull a car –loaded with 12 people – from them. Unlike Magnetic Boy and his copycats, this guy doesn’t claim to have any magical properties at all, other than incredibly strong stomach muscles. Apparently, he “accidentally” discovered this power back in 2008, but he didn’t start using it to drag vehicles down the street until this year. I do wonder how he “accidentally discovered” that he could drag incredibly heavy objects by attaching them to a bowl suctioned to his stomach. I mean, what? – “There I was one day, kicking back and minding my own business, when a large metal bowl which just so happened to be attached to an anvil fell onto my stomach…” Zhilong’s dream is to be in the Guinness Book of World Records. If I had his power, my dream would be to have my own tow truck business. You can see his amazing feat for yourself in this video right here.

But in my opinion, this next gentleman really does take the cake: he can sneeze bullets. Darco Sangermano is an Italian from Turin– so we already know he’s either a total mama’s boy or a super macho man, or a combination of the above. (And yes, I am allowed to say this because I am very happily married to a wonderful Italian man from Modena). In any case, our friend Darco happened to be taking a stroll in downtown Naples with his girlfriend during a rowdy New Year’s celebration, when he was hit in the temple by a .22 caliber stray bullet. The bullet went through the right side of his head, behind his eye socket and then lodged somewhere in his nasal passage.

Bleeding heavily but not dead, Darco was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. While waiting to be seen by doctors (excuse me? He was SHOT in the HEAD and he had to wait to see a doctor? What kind of medical emergencies do they HAVE in Naples anyways?), he suddenly sneezed – and the bullet shot out of his right nostril. Darco went on to make a full recovery. The fact that he has a pretty big nose may have helped. I’m not sure a .22 caliber bullet would even fit through my right nostril. Which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be trying right now, if I happened to have a .22 caliber bullet handy.

A man who thwarts death after getting shot in the head, and then casually sneezes out the bullet in the waiting room of the hospital. WOW. Now that’s a MAN. That’s Italy’s answer to Chuck Norris. That’s the “je-ne-sais-quoi” X-factor that just makes a woman swoon and another man nervous. That’s right up there with the goose who lays the golden egg, except the male version.

Move over, Magnetic Boy. I, for one, have a new hero.

-Anja Wulf