The Forgetful Sailor

In 1832, a British Navy doctor, David Burnes, was approached by a sailor who had pain and infection in his back. It took a while, but it became apparent there was something in there -something made of metal. After several weeks of trying to extract it, the doctor cut out a dining fork! How did it get in there?

Strange as it may seem, even after its extraction, the man persisted in adhering to his original statement of his being ignorant how and when it had been introduced; and during the two months I remained in the ship I was not able to gain further information in the matter. He seemed to have no defect of memory in any way, for he, without hesitation, gave me every information I asked as to his former life and habits.

One of the tines of the fork was incomplete. Several years later, the same sailor approached the doctor again with a pain in his neck and -you guessed it- the missing end of the tine was extracted. You can read the painful story of the sailor with a fork in his back at Thomas Morris' blog. -via Strange Company

PS: The image above is not the exact size of the fork.


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