Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@236_towncryer
Topics: Guinness World Records, World News, Weird
Katherine Sidnell
Topics: Guinness World Records, World News, Weird
We’ve all had moments where we’ve cried our eyes out, but one Nigerian man sent himself temporarily blind after a seven-day sob fest.
At the time, Tembu Ebere had been hoping to break the Guinness World record but struggled to see during the terk-jerking attempt.
Though his sight soon returned, it’s not the only symptom that Ebere suffered whilst wailing for a week.
According to the Nigerian man, he struggled with intense headaches and a swollen face throughout the record-breaking attempt as well.
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"I had to re-strategise and reduce my wailing," he told the BBC, stating that wanted to make the unhappy milestone.
Determined not to turn that frown upside down, he even went blind for 45 minutes as he made powered through the tears, as well as suffering headaches and puffy eyes.
Ironically though, Ebere hasn’t actually applied to the Guinness World Records, so it’s likely that his feat won’t become an official record.
However, he isn’t the only record-breaker in the West African nation, with many Nigerians attempting to break records as the crazy sweeps the country.
Even Guinness's official website has reportedly struggled with the increased interest, with the site even crashing for two days.
It’s after top chef Hilda Baci earned a Guinness World Record by cooking for an incredible 93 hours and 11 minutes in a Lagos restaurant – with people logging in to watch her attempt.
Another record-breaker, John Obot, will also spend 140 hours reading classic literature in September in a bid to boost literacy rates.
“The motivation is to promote reading culture in Nigeria,” said the school teacher, who says he wanted to attempt a ‘record that is meaningful’.
Whilst the bookworm’s efforts should be commended, Guinness have warned people that they need to register their attempts or risk them not counting.
In a cheeky tweet, the organisation said: “…polite reminder that you should probably have your world record title confirmed by our team before attempting it.”
The group isn’t afraid of nullifying attempts either - two chefs were disqualified for turning off their stoves and going to sleep during the world record-breaking feat.
"To avoid disappointment, it is important to ensure that what you want to attempt is a valid record title and that you understand the guidelines," Guinness told the BBC.
However, it hasn’t put off other Nigerians, including Farominiyi Kemi who attempted to make the most puff-puffs, a local desert, twice.
She said: “Nigerians are funny people and we tend to ride on the wave of whatever is happening at the moment. In less than three months the craze would die down.”
Well here’s hoping future record-breakers get the recognition they deserve.