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Published:
08/06/2009
SIX INJURED IN FIRE-WALK AT HULL EXPO
Six people have been injured after taking part in a fire-walk at the Hull Chamber of Commerce’s Expo 2009 last week.
Motivational speaker and behavioural change guru Robert Purfield, a qualified fire-walker, led three fire-walks at the two-day event at Kingston Communications Stadium. Delegates were encouraged to shed ‘self-limiting beliefs’ by walking on red hot coals, which were heated to 700 degrees centigrade.
Four of the 18 delegates who completed the walk suffered burns, while a further two people suffered blisters. One of the injured was treated at Hull Royal Infirmary's A&E department.
Purfield said the participants understood there was a risk of injury and that those who experienced burns had not been ‘in the right state of mind’.
"I can't decide when people are ready to do it, I can only rely on what people tell me," he said.
Purfield undertook the fire-walk himself to investigate what had gone wrong and he also suffered a blister.
He said: "I wasn't doing it for the right reasons. I wasn't focused. I was walking across wondering why people had been hurt."
In a press release issued before the Chamber Expo event, Bruce Massie, from Hull Chamber of Commerce, said: “The fire-walk is something completely different that we are offering this year. The people who do it will remember the experience for a very long time and if it helps people realise their true potential or it relights a passion in just one person – then that’s got to be worthwhile.”
However the Chamber of Commerce today tried to distance itself from the activity.
“We didn’t organise the fire-walking or ask Mr Purfield to do it. He contacted us asking if he could do it at the Expo because he works with a lot of businesses,” said a spokeswoman.
She denied the Chamber Expo organisers would be liable if any of the injured participants tried to sue.