Ten years ago, in 2014, a 14-year-old boy in the United States injected himself with mercury from a thermometer and intentionally allowed himself to be bitten by spiders in an attempt to develop superpowers similar to his favorite Marvel superheroes.
Inspired by his love of comic books and superhero movies, the unnamed boy believed the mercury injection would give him powers similar to the Marvel characters Mercury and Wolverine. Mercury is a mutant composed of a mercury-like material. She can melt and solidify herself at will. The more popular Wolverine famously has bones coated in the fictional indestructible alloy adamantium.
The young boy also exposed himself to multiple spider bites to gain powers similar to the iconic Spider-Man, who can climb walls and spin webs like an arachnid. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t manifest any superpowers and instead found himself in a tertiary care trauma center.
What effects did the boy’s reckless actions have?
While the spider bites had no significant impact on the boy, the mercury injections required treatment — although the effects could have been far worse.
He had multiple ulcers on his forearms (one is pictured above), which had been there for around two months. He also had elevated levels of mercury in his urine, and it was visible in X-rays.
Remarkably, the long-term damage was minimal, as the boy had only succeeded in injecting the metal under his skin instead of into his veins. He had some hemorrhaging and a significant amount of dead tissue but was otherwise unharmed.
Once the mercury and dead tissue were removed, the boy was allowed to leave the hospital — presumably after being told, in no uncertain terms, never to do anything so silly again.
In most cases of deliberate mercury injection, it is an attempt to self-harm. Other instances have included a young boxer’s belief that it would strengthen his sporting performance and several who thought mercury would enhance their sexual prowess.
This instance was rare in the sense that the boy was found to have an average IQ and no psychiatric problems. However, his decision to inject himself to gain superpowers was undoubtedly a peculiar one.