Susan Woodford remembers the first time her son showed her his unusual talent.
“It was funny,” Woodford said with a laugh.
Now, people around the world can check out 13-year-old Elias Woodford’s special skill: a photo of him displaying his “displaced abdomen” is featured in a new Ripley’s Believe It or Not! book.
Elias says sucking in his stomach to an extreme degree doesn’t hurt.
“Just uses a lot of energy,” he said, “’cause you have to hold your breath and use your muscles. I’m moving all my organs to the back of my body.”
It all started when Elias was flipping through an older Believe It or Not! book at the family home in the small town of Morrin, about 150 kilometres northeast of Calgary.
He noticed a picture of a man showing his displaced abdomen and thought: “I can do that.”
“I sent it into Ripley’s and they put it in,” Elias said. “Yeah, so excited. Like, this book is everywhere, and I’m actually in it.”
The family recently got an indication of how far Elias’ newfound notoriety reaches.
“His cousins in England, they opened up a book,” Susan Woodford said, “and they saw him in it, so they thought it was pretty neat.”
And Elias was certainly a hit with customers when the Woodfords stopped in this week at Calgary’s Owl’s Nest Books.
“Look at that. Isn’t that amazing,” said customer Annie Freeze, while congratulating Elias.
“Good for you. You’ve made some history!”