Is this guy for real? WTF?

http://www.cutoffmyfeet.com/

Wants to cut his own legs off LIVE ON THE INTERNET
with a home-made GUILLOTINE.

Has this been investigated at all? Is this shit for real?

Someone please stop the internet… I want to get off now.

Oh. My. God.

Having just browsed without listening to any of the discussions, I’m still at a loss to find words that are both pithy and express my absolute horror.
I mean, it takes all kinds, but do we have to be subjected to them all?

Goodness.
I need to go curl up with my blankie now. And my Winnie-the-Pooh.
[sub]Mommy, I need a hug.[/sub]

Well, to be fair to the guy, he’s doing it because he’s paralyzed from the knees down, and would be able to walk and run again with prosthetics, and this was apparently his best chance for funding the whole thing. Yeah, it’s odd, but not as odd as the cases of apotemnephilia that have been discussed here once or twice. I seem to recall seeing a thread with a link to a webpage of a woman who wanted to cut off her arms (with numerous mentions of the exact brand of prosthetics she was planning on getting). Now that was freaky. This doesn’t seem as bad.

What was that website again, about the DOUBLE STEEL DORRANCE HOOKS??? or something like that?

I am not a Doctor (not that I have ever claimed or been mistaken as one before either…)

BUT is it possible to be paralyzed from the knees down? I mean that just sounds kind of odd with my albiet limited medical knowledge… I would think his legs in general would be paralyzed, not?

Here was a previous discussion on apotemnophilia: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=51200

Can’t find the woman who wanted the elaborately named prosthetics.

Here’s a thread about her and her TWIN BODY-POWERED PROSTHESES WITH DORRANCE #5X STAINLESS STEEL HOOKS.

I really don’t see a problem with this.

He’s paralyzed from the knees down, and his insurance company won’t cover the amputation and prosthetics because they’re not a necessary procedure. So, he’s going to handle both aspects himself – amputating his feet with a homemade guillotine, and buying the prosthetics with the proceeds from the webcast.

It’s not an insurance scam, it’s not an amputee-fetish where people cut off working arms and legs because of an unusual desire, and he’s very upfront about what the whole thing is about.

There are a few things that I’m just a little hesitant about before I say “Hey, knock yerself out.”[ul][li]He wants 200,000 people to sign up at $20 a pop - that’s $4,000,000 he wants to raise. That’s a whole lotta money.[]If he doesn’t raise enough money for the prosthetics, will he call it off? And if so, will he return the money he raised?[]If he raises more money than he needs, what will he do with the excess? Pro-rate the surplus back to the viewing audience? Take a trip around the world? This isn’t that much of an issue, since he’ll have gone through with it, and people will have gotten their morbid entertainment for their $20.I’m not exactly a skilled physician, but one would suspect that crude self-amputation is gotta be a dangerous procedure. How’s he going to deal with the immediate aftermath? The webcast would sorta suck if the audience watched him bleed to death (although they’d get a lot more than they bargained for with their $20)[/ul]On the whole, this isn’t hurting anyone, he seems to be of sound mind, and if it all goes as planned, he’ll be able to walk again.[/li]
Still, it is sorta creepy.

Hm, the FAQ that I missed the first time answers one of my questions:

Well, knock yerself out.

Wouldn’t it be funny in a sick kind of way if someone gathered up his legs and the hospital sewed them back on while he was knocked out from shock.

Sounds kinda scammy to me.

Yes, it is possible. It all depends are where the nerves stop functioning. If you sever a nerve halfway down your leg the part above retains sensation/movement and the part below is numb/paralyzed.

I do think we live in a fucked-up society where, in order to maximize the use of his body this man apparently has to perform his own self-amputation.

It’s not so much I think it’s sick because the man wants prosthesis…but him doing it HIMSELF…that’s scary!

Like a guy I saw on Jerry Springer, who attempted to do his own sex change, cutting off his own penis. I mean, whatever, but, wouldn’t it be better left to professionals?

It would be downright hilarious – I was thinking the same thing. I wonder, would original webcast subscribers get to see the next amputation at a discount?

Gotta love the USA health care system.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by LNO *
[li]If he doesn’t raise enough money for the prosthetics, will he call it off? And if so, will he return the money he raised?[/li][/QUOTE]

This guy was on the Buzz Killman show on Friday and he said that if he doesn’t raise the money, he will return it… Your subscription comes with that guarantee. I think he only has like 14,000 so far, so, quite a ways to go.

jarbaby

I take it then that this operation would be covered by another country’s health care system? I was under the impression that the US was one of the places most likely to cover not really necessary medical procedures.

Diane said

Then Cajo said

Nah! Did you get a reduced price to see Halloween 2, or 3 or…? Now, if the guy did a matinee performance, maybe. :smiley:

I think it would be covered under Englands National Health Service. Maybe that’s why it’s in such a state.

I’ll ask dr_mom_mcl, but I’m pretty sure it would be covered by Canada’s medicare system too.

I’ll believe it when I see it. And by “it,” I mean his severed feet chucked in the bottom of a trashcan. At which point, I’ll happily applaud the guy for his guts, as opposed to my current p.o.v. that he’s a complete troll.