Polio-hit youth does straitjacket escape for AIDS awareness

Chennai, Jan 5 (UNI) In a death-defying act, a polio-affected youth today performed a 'straitjacket escape' from a height of 40 feet to spread a message that there is an escape from the dreaded HIV/AIDS disease.

Hung upside-down from a crane, 23-year-old Arun, one of the few professional escape artistes and illusionists in the country, escaped from the shackles of the straitjacket in just one-and-a-half minutes.

The feat was performed at the Presidency College here amidst cheers by a band of students.

Arun was physically impaired by polio at the age of one but it did not dampen his spirits as he continued to explore new terrains of life with a quest for knowledge.

Though a BA, BL degree holder, he was enchanted by the magicians' profession and learnt tricks from his guru 'Magician' T Vadivelu Pillai.

He began to perform escape acts, which were popular in the West.

As Arun felt that his talent should serve society for a good cause, he had been performing escape stunts in public to attract people, particularly youth, and to spread the message about protecting oneself from HIV/AIDS.

'Initially, I thought of creating awareness about polio as I myself am a victim. As that disease has been almost completely eradicated, I took up the campaign against AIDS, which has a high prevalence rate in our country,' he told UNI.

The youth's earlier daring acts include riding blindfolded on a motorcycle for a distance of ten km on the busiest route in the city to collect funds for tsunami victims and an escape act from a closed box, hung from a crane, after wriggling out of iron chains in just two minutes, also for AIDS awareness.

UNI