What became of the Nail I swallowed?
By Harry Walker
Given in handwritten form to
Peter William and Sarah O’Neill
On August 29, 2006
I was just a small boy when I swallowed a nail. The way it happened, I was imitating my dad, like a small boy often does.
When doing carpentry work, my dad would use his mouth as a third hand. He would line up a bunch of nails in his mouth with the points pointing out. He would then take one of these nails in one hand and hold it in place while he drove it into the wood with the hammer that he held in the other hand. Then he would take another nail from his mouth and continue in this way until the nails were all gone.
One morning I found a nail on the windowsill of the bed room where I slept. I put it into my mouth like dad, then jumped back into bed. The nail dropped back into my throat, and I accidentally swallowed it.
I had no fear when this happened. I did not worry at all. I knew nothing about the structure of the human body; and, if you look down someone’s throat, all you see is a black hole.
So you can see why I was not worried. Why would anyone be worried if a nail happened to disappear into a black hole?
However, I knew my mother well enough to know that she tended to get flustered and all worked up over minor incidents like this, so I decided it was best not to tell her. In fact, I didn’t tell any one although many years later I did tell my mother.
Did this nail pass through me? Did it dissolve inside me? I know nothing about body chemistry or, did it act as a tonic?
All I know is that I never suffered any discomfort of either mind or body because of this incident.
I don’t know whether my case is unique or not. Probably many persons have accidentally swallowed a nail.
I offer no theory as to why it turned out as it did. Personal theories, instead of being objective and impartial, are usually formulated to justify our own point of view. So theories often obscure the truth, rather than explain the truth.
