Man Donates His Amputated Toes To Bar That Puts Them In Drinks

A British man has donated several toes that he lost due to frostbite to a bar in northern Canada that serves them in drinks.

The bar is in Dawson City, Yukon, and is famous for serving up the 'Sourtoe' cocktail - which should basically be your choice of drink you fancy a tipple with a festering toe in it. Yummy.

Bolton's Nick Griffiths managed to separate himself from three of his toes during an ultra-marathon in the Yukon in February before he ended up in hospital because of the cold.

He saw no better place for his detached digits than the Downtown Hotel, where at least someone can get a bit of use out of them.

"They basically said, 'Can we have them if you're not going to need them anymore?'" he said.

"It's sort of recycling taken to the extreme."

He added: "I've pretty much lost all of my big toe, and I've probably just over half of the next two. So I've got two little stumps there they've managed to save.

"He kindly put them into three little jars, and they're in my bedside cabinet at the moment. So I just need to try and find a way of getting them to Canada,"

In fact, the bar would only need one toe, but staff like to keep hold of a couple of spares just in case.

The bizarre tradition of putting a toe in a drink stems from the tale of an old rum-runner called Louie Linken who amputated his own toe in the 1920s when on the run from the law.

Since then there have been many different toes. The bar is at pains to point out that all of the toes have been donated, rather than gained in any other way.

A surprising amount of them have been accidentally swallowed and several have also been stolen - you can begin to see why they keep a couple in reserve.

There is only one rule to the Sourtoe cocktail, that is: "You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but the lips have got to touch the toe."

Griffiths is glad to be a part of the history and has gladly donated his appendages.

He continued: "Maybe one day my grandkids will be doing a bit of travelling, and they can say: 'That's Granddad's big toe in that drink.'"

We can only hope, Nick.

I prefer my own drinks appendage-free, if I'm honest. I don't even like it when a wasp gets in there.

Featured Image Credit: 30 Day Adventures

Topics: World News, Weird

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a freelance journalist and LADbible contributor. He graduated from University of London with a BA in Philosophy before studying for a Masters in Journalism at the University of Salford. He has previously written for the M.E.N Group as well as working for several top professional sports clubs. Contact him on [email protected]

@TPWagwim