Man Injured By Launching Firework From His Bottom

(From Guardian Unlimited -- By Mark Oliver And Agencies)

A man has suffered severe internal injuries after trying to launch a powerful firework from his bottom on bonfire night, it emerged today.

It was thought that the 22-year-old was trying to copy a scene from the 2002 film JACKASS: THE MOVIE, which has long been condemned by safety campaigners and blamed for inspiring dangerous pranks.

The man is reported to have got down on all fours, lowered his trousers and fixed a BLACK CAT THUNDERBOLT ROCKET to himself in front of a group of friends at the end of a firework display in the Monkwearmouth area of Sunderland on Sunday.

Fuzzy mobile phone footage shows a blinding white flash and the group of spectators laughing.

In the JACKASS film, a rocket is launched in this way without causing injury, but the Sunderland man -- a soldier who has just returned from Iraq -- was not so lucky.

One witness described how he stood up and initially appeared to be unhurt, but then stumbled and fell to the ground, and it became clear he was bleeding.

Paramedics and police were called to the scene.

The man, whose injuries include a scorched colon, is still in hospital.

Safety experts were incredulous.

A spokesman for the Firework Association said he had never heard of an incident like it in 45 years.

He added, "This sort of thing is beyond belief."

Man Injured By Launching Firework From His Bottom

Scott O'Leary, thanks for the post.

[Burns, didn't you and your buddies do the same thing this summer?]