CAIRO: In Cairo's Imbaba, strongman Karim Hussein pulls
trucks with his teeth, swallows nails and casually steps on mounds of
broken glass, offering one of the few forms of live entertainment for
residents of the poor and crowded district.
"I began this journey when I was around seven or eight years
old. I was drinking a glass of milk, half of which was filled with
ghee, and the glass broke," he said.
"I started eating the glass from my hand, and until today I have
between three to four cups (of glass) for breakfast. One day when I was
at the barber shop, I took the razor from him and ate it."
He leaves crowds spellbound along dusty, potholed lanes by
placing his foot under the tire of a moving SUV, clenches a heavy wooden
bench between his teeth or eats chunks of raw meat - Imbaba's
equivalent of street performers in cities like New York.
"When my parents noticed that I eat glass and razors, and saw me
chewing on hammer nails, they took me to see several doctors and found
that I can digest glass and metal as any other food," said Hussein.
He says his abilities have been passed down to his children,
who also lie shirtless on their backs over broken glass as he stands on
them.
The 'Pharaoh' also has a soft side.
He hopes his notoriety as Imbaba's ultimate tough guy will
enable him to one day perform for the masses and donate his earnings to
an orphanage or children's cancer hospital.
Time may be on his side. Hussein says he is only getting stronger and healthier with age.
(Editing by Michael Georgy and John Stonestreet)
- Reuters
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