Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City, Utah had the world's longest nails...until recently.
Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City, Utah, holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for longest nails. Actually, held. She had not cut them since 1979, until she was a passenger in an SUV that was involved in an accident. Her nails were snapped off, according to the Deseret News. The crash was a four car pile-up, and Redmond was throw from her SUV.
UPDATE 9/10: Lee Redmond talks about life without her long nails.
According to the Guinness website, her nails measured a total of more than 28 feet in 2008, with the right thumb’s nail the longest at roughly 2ft 11ins long. She used to soak them in olive oil to keep them from becoming too brittle, until they grew too long for a pan.
Shridhar Chillal held the record for 20 years before cutting his nails in 2000 because their weight was too much for him to bear.
Redmond is expected to make a full recovery, but a Guinness spokesman said the nails were “damaged beyond repair.” What a sight that must have been for the first responders at the scene of the accident.
Why am I writing about this?
I write about this because this woman just lost something that most defined her, that gave her notoriety. Redmond’s nails were in reality her identity, and in a flash they were gone. She may physically heal, but I have no doubt she expected to be buried with those nails fully attached. Does she have another thirty years? Most likely not.
In this way, Lee Redmond is not much different than the people who were ripped off by Bernard Madoff and the rest of the Wall Street crowd. People lost everything. Because of Bernard Madoff, retiree Allan Goldstein has to return to work at the age of 76. Ian Thiermann, age 90, had to go back to work. William Foxton, 65, shot himself in the head over Madoff. Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet chose to slit his wrist.
Some of us handle having everything taken away from us better than others. I will be interested to see how Lee Redmond bounces back, or doesn’t, from the loss of her nails. She may not have lost millions, but she may have lost her identity.
Wikipedia photos to be deleted
NYC Wedding March – September 26, 2010
Joaquin Phoenix is a poser
Flushing Meadow Corona Park skate park
East Village Park and Williamsburg Bridge photos
100 People I Photographed for the Creative Commons
Pakistan flood devastation statistics
Cordoba House / Ground Zero mosque protest photos
The void in my blogging (and some photos)
Rihanna video with Eminem about Chris Brown?
I look at this, and I think “Fifteen minutes of fame”. Then I get a grip on reality and remind myself that sad individuals like Lee are probably blissfully unaware of that assertion made by Andy Warhol.
If her identity was built around being the woman with the World’s longest fingernails, then said identity is more shallow than a puddle.
David,
I know you’re blog is heavily geared toward intellectual comments and observations. But the only thing I can come up with on this one, is “ewww….gross!”
Don’t worry about the bathroom habits, she probably has a bidet that works at 150psi.
Twitter: davidshankbone
says:
That was *my* theory! It’s the only thing I could come up with!
my nails took 7 years to get 9 inches from the ends of my fingers i do everything. i cook, clean, own a dog grooming shop and groom 6 dogs a day and look after other pets. the bathroom is not a problem just use more paper that’s all and if necessary have a shower. and when it comes to cooking i clean them with a tooth brush so no germs got on the food and also after cooking i do the same. being clean is very important.
Twitter: davidshankbone
says:
I *do* wonder about the bathroom habits…