The man in the photo is Dutch fakir Mirin Dajo. He was born in 1912 as Arnold Henskes Gerrit and adopted its name, a term that translates to mean Esperanto “wonderful”. In 1947, the Corso Theater in Zurich, Mirin Dajo allow an assistant to plunge a fencing foil right through his body. The sheet appears to have pierced several vital organs and yet, the fakir remained relatively unharmed.
Needless to say, people were shocked, surprised and frightened by what they saw.
As word spread of his remarkable talent, a Swiss doctor Hans Naegeli-Mirin Dajo Osjord guest at the Cantonal Hospital of Zurich for the study. Many people, including Naegeli-Osjord, the chief of surgery Dr. Werner Brunnerand and several other doctors, students and members of the press to witness these tests. They were all astounded by what they saw.
In front of witnesses assembled Mirin Dajo stripped to the waist and, after a period of meditation, once again had his assistant plunge the rapier steel through it. He then stood for a while, impaled, while doctors examined him.
The doctors found no evidence of fraud, but many people refused to believe what they saw. Mirin Dajo agreed to an x-ray with the sheet in place. The resulting image confirmed the legitimacy of its capabilities.
Later that year, Mirin Dajo was again under consideration, this time in Basel. There, he allowed the doctors themselves to pierce it. Again, there was no evidence of deception. Not only did Mirin Dajo insist that doctors treat about later, he jogged several laps while impaled to illustrate the complete tolerance of pain.


Mirin Dajo was a very religious man and some media labeled him a “Messiah”. According to reports, Mirin Dajo could hear voices, a spiritual guide. Its public events were often concluded with a conference and a message of peace.
How Mirin Dajo was able to survive this trauma repeated? Who knows. Luck, faith, the unique biology, mind over matter – your guess is as good as mine. He kept running his achievement to the public. Finally, to prove his talent was real while on stage, he began to be impaled by three hollow skewers. It would then pump the water through these skewers. He became a human fountain.
It is not uncommon for Eastern fakirs themselves to drill with swords, many of them can grow swords completely through their bodies. However, most of them do so through the fat and “safe” areas of their bodies. The exploits of drilling Mirin Dajo were extreme.
It is important to note that its unique know-how may have caused his death May 26, 1948. An autopsy revealed that Dajo died of a ruptured aorta.
images: 1. promotional photo of Mirin Dajo – no known source of origin. 2. X-ray image that shocked the medical world.