Things they don’t mention in sun lotion commercials: “May get you impaled on a rusty spike of sunlight”
It used to be that people loved to sunbathe. Millions upon millions would, and still go to soak up the sun, lying on beaches, walking on boulevards. The old Egyptians might have made the sun a God but modern man was its true disciple.
Then, all the health scares about skin cancer – and, for many, the even more horrifying news that too much sun could make your skin (and you!) look old.
So, people still go to the beaches, and buy sexy-looking & much-revealing summer clothes but now our relationship with our God has become more problematic, and a bit strained.
We know, when we’ve come to stand naked in front of it, that we revere it at our peril.
Nevertheless, there are things that can happen to us under the sun that they don’t warn us of in all those skin cancer and sun lotion brochures:
Gavin Rigby, 34, had been sunbathing with friends, when he got up to stretch his legs but lost his footing and toppled head first down a short slope. He landed on an eight inch metal spike, which was protruding from the ground and was left stranded on top for half an hour, till three firecrews including one armed with special cutting equipment arrived at the scene along with police and an ambulance. After he was freed, Mr Rigby was rushed to hospital but was later discharged.
“It was certainly painful,” Mr Rigby commented, afterwards.
Indeed.
Poor Mr Rigby. He went to pray in the church of Ra and strayed into the court of Vlad the Impaler.
I’m sure there is a moral to this unfortunate story but right now I find it hard to think of anything beyond a respectful, if quivering ‘Ouch!’
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