Make mine a mojiTOE!
DAD DOWNS BIZARRE COCKTAIL AFTER SUFFERING FROSTBITE AS TEMPERATURES HIT -50C DURING ULTRA MARATHON
WHEN it comes to cocktails, many of us enjoy a mojito, screwdriver or pina colada.
But adventurous dad Nick Griffiths added a stomach-churning ingredient to his latest tipple – a MUMMIFIED TOE that he lost to frostbite.
Nick, from Bolton, lost three toes as temperatures dropped to -50C during an extreme 300-mile winter marathon in northern Canada last year.
The severe frostbite caused his toes to turn black, forcing the ex-Royal Marine commando to drop out of the race and have them amputated.
While in hospital, a nurse showed him a video of the Sourtoe Cocktail challenge – a tradition from the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Yukon.
Dating back to 1973, the tradition involves drinking a shot of whiskey containing a mummified human toe. It’s certainly not one for the faint-hearted.
The 47-year-old decided to donate his toes to the hotel, after learning they were facing a shortage because people had either accidentally swallowed or stolen them.
After arriving via post, it took six weeks for Mr Griffiths’ toe to be mummified with rock salt before it was ready to be used as a garnish.
This week he returned to the hotel to neck the first drink containing his amputated digit.
He said: “It wasn’t as bad as you would think – it was more like a lump of ice than anything else.
“The toe looked exactly as it was the last time I had seen it. The tradition was first started with a toe that had been amputated due to frostbite, and they said for them to get another big toe, that was amputated due to frostbite was the motherload. It was the full circle.”
He said the hotel often takes donations of amputated toes, and impose a 2,500 US dollars fine (£2,000) to anyone who accidentally swallows one.
The odd tradition is said to have begun when Yukon riverboat captain Dick Stevenson discovered a preserved toe in an abandoned cabin. He used it to found the club and its rules.
In order to qualify for the Sourtoe Cocktail Club, a drinker must let the toe touch their lips.
Mr Griffiths described the decision to donate the toe as a ‘no brainer.’ He added: “I wasn’t going to use it. I asked the surgeon if I could have them and explained what it was for, and he said they were my toes so I can do what I want with them. Everyone at home thinks I am mad.
“I think my daughters get a little fed up with hearing the story so much. They go, ‘Oh dad is going on about his toe again,’ but the whole family thinks it is quite funny. It is definitely something I will always remember.”
Everyone at home thinks I am mad... it is definitely something I will always remember Nick Griffiths