# That world's longest fingernail lady broke her nails **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2009, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665 "2009-02-13T09:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/1 "2009-02-13T09:18:59Z")
You all know the lady I’m talking about here. The one with the freakish fingernails that just couldn’t bring herself to cut her nails. She broke them off when she was thrown from a vehicle in an accident. She can at least beat herself up now for not wearing a seat belt. Wearing a seat belt may have saved her nails, besides keeping her from being ejected from a vehicle. Once I read that she has thought about cutting her nails but couldn’t do it. Maybe she will keep them to a non freakish length now. [Pileup shatters SLC woman’s fingernail record](http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11688862) Actually she still holds the record for longest nails so the article title is wrong. I’m thinking her nails effectively prevented her from fastening and unfastening a seat belt. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/2 "2009-02-13T09:35:53Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I’m thinking her nails effectively prevented her from fastening and unfastening a seat belt. Even if this is the case she could have got someone to do it for her. I have no sympathy for people who don’t wear their seatbelts. They should put this lady in driver’s ed videos: “even if you don’t care about your _life_, think of your _appearance_!” ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/3 "2009-02-13T09:50:26Z")
I guess now the issue has been resolved, but… How did she wipe? ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/4 "2009-02-13T12:16:46Z")
\ Every time I see footage of one of these long-nailed people, my nailbeds ache in sympathy with theirs. I think of the nails being bumped a bit, swaying to and fro, gaining some momentum and ripping out of their beds… :eek: I told you so! In my head. I knew it! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/5 "2009-02-13T18:48:56Z")
Eeek! She looks like Freddy Krueger! ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/6 "2009-02-13T19:02:23Z")
People like that seem self-centered and vain to me, in that they must impose on everone to do basic stuff for them all the time so they dont break a nail. Talk about skewed priorities. Besides, just eww, they’re horrible looking. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/7 "2009-02-13T19:11:20Z")
> [@maladroit](#): > > People like that seem self-centered and vain to me, in that they must impose on everone to do basic stuff for them all the time so they dont break a nail. Talk about skewed priorities. Besides, just eww, they’re horrible looking. I doubt she was that much of an imposition, she probably just adapted and learned to do things slightly different. IIRC, she’s a hairdresser, and the nails weren’t stopping her from doing her job. It’s not like she woke up one day to find she had freakishly long nails. Still, I like long nails myself, but that’s a bit too long. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/8 "2009-02-13T19:13:57Z")
Imagine the conversation at her house before the accident: Nail Lady (yelling): “Who’s on wipe patrol today? I just had a big BM and I’m tired of sitting here. Oh, grab a tampon while you’re at it.” Little Timmy: “Bullshit on that whole honor thy mother and father meme. I’m not wiping that old lady again today. I threw up after breakfast. Dad, you do it.” Nail Lady Husband: 'I thought _she_ complained every month when her period came. This is misery, sticking it up there, pulling it out. Yuck!" Little Sally: “It’s embarrassing to be known as the Nail Lady’s kid”. People don’t say, “kiss my ass”, they say “wipe my ass” and they think it’s hilarious. I want to start over in another city." Nail Lady Husband: “If one of you will feed her later, I’ll wipe her this time - but I’d better get credit and have a day off later on this week.” Little Timmy: “Whatever you say Dad, thanks. My stomach just can’t take it right now. Mom’s B.M.s really stink.” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/9 "2009-02-13T20:41:27Z")
How the hell do you get nails that long? They must be super strong. I don’t bite my nails, but they don’t get freakishly long either before breaking. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/10 "2009-02-13T20:47:54Z")
And when you get your period, they generally weaken more anyway, and break off then. Plus you must do _nothing_. Even typing grinds them down…so she must not type. I keep my nails at a healthy attractive length and yet they break no matter what. Forget putting her seatbelt on, how the hell does she even get in the car? In that picture she looks fairly neat and clean, who combs her hair? How does she put on her clothes? How do her days go? I just cracked my knuckles. How could she do that? How does she put food in her mouth? This kills me. I Need. To. Know! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/11 "2009-02-13T21:02:45Z")
See kids, this is why you make sure your pet rodents have plenty of hardwood to chew on. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/12 "2009-02-13T22:03:39Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > I guess now the issue has been resolved, but… > > How did she wipe? I’ve always wondered this about the record-breaking long-nailed people. Hell, I’ve even wondered it about some of the women in my office. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/13 "2009-02-13T22:22:16Z")
She probably uses a wiping stick for the morbidly obese. And I’d imagine she could manipulate things like combs and lipsticks and car keys and forks between her knuckles. Hell, I can even write with a pen gripped between my knuckles, and my fingertips out of the way. But a _hairdresser_? How does she wash people’s hair in that tiny sink, with those grody keratin sickles? Do her clients get to wear eye protection? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/14 "2009-02-13T22:27:44Z")
What do you want to bet that at least some of those nails not only broke but tore off all the way down. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Tortuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Tortuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tortuga)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/15 "2009-02-14T06:26:03Z")
I gather that the wiping Q is answered by demonstration in the embedded video in the [related article of the OP’s link](http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5839574). I didn’t watch; I guess, maybe I can see how she could adapt, although I am amazed at the idea of her being a hairdresser. The related article is sad. > [@](#): > > When she moves her hands, the long, yellowed nails click together with a soft rustle. Blergh. > [@](#): > > It may all end soon, though. Weary of negative comments - in an [AOL.com](http://AOL.com) poll, 81 percent of respondents said she was “creepy” - Redmond says she thinks about cutting off her nails every day. But she knows that after 28 years, saying goodbye to them will be traumatic. > “I fight back and forth about it,” she says. “I keep thinking it’s gonna be this year. I don’t see myself getting old and being able to take care of them.” > Of all the opportunities her record-setting fingernails have brought her, Redmond seems most thankful not for the travel or the TV appearances but for the chance to speak to schoolchildren about individuality and self-esteem. She and her nails are always a hit during “show and tell” at Utah elementary schools. > "I tell the kids it’s OK to be different as long as you’re not hurting anyone. Some of the girls say they’re going to grow out their nails, too. I tell 'em, ‘Start right now and you’ll be able to beat my record.’ " That’s so sad. You can be different! (a good message) You can be famous for no other reason than what most would consider poor hygiene/perverse oddity-attention seeking! (not so good) You travel and talk to school kids to inspire them and all you have is a life as a retired beautician and really long nails? Ugh. We need more Richard Dawkinses, please, not “an aging Barbie doll.” But she does sound like a really sweet lady, really. And as traumatic as being ejected from a car is, to live to survive, albeit without the unkempt keratin you’re known for, well, it’s probably a blessing. Of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/16 "2009-02-14T06:31:32Z")
According to Wikipedia - well we know how reliable that can be: > [@](#): > > She currently resides in Salt Lake City, where she enjoys riding bikes with her younger sister Sierra (who has nails of normal length). She states that while certain activities such as putting on a heavy coat can be troublesome, she manages her daily life without much difficulty. On the Guinness TV feature, she has been shown driving a car, vacuuming, doing dishes, and giving haircuts to her grandchildren. She adds that her long nails don’t even interfere with her care of her husband who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.[1] > > On February 11, 2009, her record-setting nails were broken off when she was ejected from a car in a four-car pileup in Holladay, Utah. Her injuries were serious, but not life threatening. Giving haircuts to her grandchildren? Caring for a husband who suffers from AD? Hard to believe. The mental image of her trying to wipe her butt and then get the nails clean is not an appetizing one. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/17 "2009-02-15T07:09:30Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > I guess now the issue has been resolved, but… > > How did she wipe? \*pokes head around barely opened door Very carefully. 😃 \*slams door shut and runs like hell ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/18 "2009-02-15T07:30:37Z")
Heh. I think they are kinda cool. I’m sad she was hurt. I got a soft spot for eccentrics. She isn’t hurting anyone. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2009, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/19 "2009-02-15T09:15:51Z")
How did she _drive_? With her knees? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665/20 "2009-02-16T02:41:16Z")
At least she found a way to get them cut off that, while traumatic for her, was really the least bad thing that happened that day. And since they all went at once, she had no chance to cut one off and then chicken out. This way she can wake up, and it’s all over, and she probably won’t even care, she’ll be so happy to just be alive. Sucks, though. Hope they weren’t the CAUSE of the accident. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-worlds-longest-fingernail-lady-broke-her-nails/485665.md?page=2)