Neck injury leaves world-renowned Vietnamese acrobat's career in the balance

By Tam Ky   September 11, 2017 | 08:37 pm PT
Doctors have told him to quit but it seems the show must go on.

Vietnamese circus artist Giang Quoc Nghiep, one of two brothers who broke the Guinness World Record with their head-to-head balancing act, has been hospitalized with a stiff neck.

“His cervical spine is abnormally bent. This is the result of years of practicing and performing,” his wife, singer Ngoc Mai, told VnExpress.

“The trauma is curable and not so serious for a normal person. But for my husband, things are not that simple because he has to keep performing and the injury could affect his bone marrow and leave him paralyzed in the right arm,” she said.

Nghiep damaged his spine during two accidents back in 2009 and 2011.

Doctors have already told him to leave the circus but he has apparently refused to take their advice.

Nghiep, 28, and his brother Giang Quoc Co, 33, broke the world record last year after performing on the steps of the Cathedral of Girona in Spain.

They climbed 90 stairs in 52 seconds with one sibling balanced on top of the other, surpassing the previous record set in September 2014 by Chinese pair Tang Tao and Su Zengxian, who climbed 26 stairs in a minute.

Watch the duo's stunt performance in the video below.

 
 
go to top