Souvenir Building Injuries

Be careful, building replicas can be dangerous. In the wake of souvenir building throwing incident in which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hit in the face, we now learn that other people have been injured by building models as well. Scott D. sent me a few articles about these potentially hazardous collectibles. Doctors at St George's Hospital Medical School in London had to remove an metal Eiffel tower model from the skull of a 3 year old boy. According to the report, "He had tripped and fallen onto a metal model of the Eiffel Tower which then became rigidly lodged into his skull. He was transferred directly to the neurosurgical theatre for a craniotomy to remove the foreign body and debridement of the wound. Following this procedure he...made a good recovery on the paediatric intensive care unit." Also in London, a jogger had a nasty spill involving a metal Eiffel Tower key ring souvenir. Amy Preston was carrying her keys in her hand as she went jogging and when she fell, she landed onto the key ring resulting in two legs of the souvenir becoming embedded in her hand. I have a new respect, but not yet fear of my souvenir building collection. Its interesting that both of these incidents involved Eiffel Towers. I'm sure the pointy, dagger-lick shape of these tiny towers is the cause. Its also a very popular souvenir even for non-collectors. So be careful of your sharp souvenirs and the treacherous TV towers in your collection. In a strange twist to the attack on Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, the souvenir that was thrown has now become an even more  popular item the tourists and locals. Models of Milan's Duomo cathedral are reportedly 'flying off the shelves.' Lets just hope they don't start flying toward other people's heads again. As a sign that this is now a historic pop culture event, the replica throwing event made the Washington Post's annual 2010 "In and Out" list. "Hurling shoes at presidents" is OUT while "Heaving statuettes at prime ministers" is now, apparently, IN.