In India, a 15-year-old is a huge fan of Marvel superheroes and has done everything to look like the character of Wolverine. For that, he had the bad idea of injecting mercury directly into the body… but he didn’t think it was going to turn out so badly.
This is nothing new, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies are known to be enjoyed by everyone, but especially by teenagers. And some fans will do anything to look like their idols. When it comes to a cosplay or a disguise of his favorite character, it goes again but this time, this teenager has gone really too far.
After watching the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a 15 year old teenager wanted to repeat the process during which the hero, played by Hugh Jackman, is injected with adamantium all over his body. This very resistant metal only exists in the Marvel universe, he had to find an alternative and fell back on mercury*. This young man managed to get it by breaking thermometers and other equipment that contained it. He yearned to have the same superpowers and look like Wolverine so much thathe decided to inject himself with mercury. Unsurprisingly, this injection quickly turned into a disaster … The young Indian was directly admitted to the trauma center of the AAIMS of New Delhi. His forearms were covered with sores and ulcers. The psychiatrists did not waste a second to take care of him and they were quickly able to collect the testimony of the young boy.
More fear than harm: everything ends up working out afterwards several skin grafts.
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Doctors’ opinion
The skin grafts that had been done allowed her to heal completely.. After several toxicological examinations carried out by health professionals, the doctors checked the level of mercury in the teenager’s blood and confirmed that he had not absorbed a lethal dose. It was after several psychological tests that the psychiatrists decreed that the young boy had no mental deficit and a normal IQ.
This sad event should alert parents and the role they have to play in raising awareness among their children to distinguish what is real and what is not. As parents, it is important to remain vigilant if you have young children or adolescents. Unfortunately, they can easily be influenced by the movies or series they watch. They like to reproduce what they see and sometimes even violence. Recently, this is what happened with the Netflix series Squid Game: in schoolyards, many children were inspired by the Korean series by participating in violent games.
* In Europe new rules have been put in place to reduce the use of mercury. The decree of 24 December 1998 prohibits the placing on the market of medical mercury thermometers.