I heard this story on NPR today and thought it was too good of a story to pass up sharing with others. And yes, it's all true.
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X-ray key story draws national attention; locals appear on NBC's Today Show Tuesday
Frank Graham (North Platte Bulletin)
The key has passed but the story of how a North Platte locksmith duplicated a new one from an X-ray is garnering national attention.
John Somers, of Al’s Lock and Safe of North Platte, is a popular national media darling these days.
Somers duplicated a key from an X-ray of the stomach of Arthur M. Richardson of Denver June 23. Richardson swallowed the key the night before while trying to pull a prank on his buddy, Andrew Allen of North Platte.
The key belonged to Allen’s 1977 Chevrolet pickup.
After drinking a “couple of beers,” according to Richardson, he put the key in his mouth and pretended he was going to swallow it.
Then, accidentally, he did.
The key was the only one Allen had for his truck. They tried throwing it up with no luck. Realizing they had a problem, they went to Great Plains Regional Medical Center for an X-ray.
Sure enough, there was the key, in pristine profile, in Richardson’s stomach.
The men took the X-ray to Somers, a locksmith.
Somers was able to duplicate the key exactly while using the X-ray as a model and the key worked.
Richardson got a prescription for Milk of Magnesia and the original key passed from his system Monday. He said he did not recover it.
The story ran in the Bulletin and other local media sources and, because of its novelty, gathered steam and began to get national attention.
The Bulletin staff first realized the full impact of the story after being contacted by a producer from Good Morning America on ABC several times on Sunday.
Somers said he began to get calls at the shop and they’ve come from across the nation and around the world.
“We got phone calls from radio stations in Oregon, San Diego, Calif., Fort Collins, Colo., and even Amsterdam Holland.
“I could hardly understand the Amsterdam deejays,” Somers said. “They were hooting and hollering and having a great time.”
“It’s the biggest thing since the moon landing,” Somers said the men teased. “Well, maybe number three after the Michael Jackson trial.”
The story was featured on MSNBC Monday on Countdown, hosted by Keith Oberman and The Situation, hosted by Tucker Carlson. It was also featured on the Fox News Monday afternoon with Shepard Smith.
On Tuesday, Somers, Richardson and Allen gathered at the store and were interviewed live by Al Roker of the Today Show. A freelance crew from Denver set up the cameras and satellite feed and the men and their story was broadcast across the nation at 8:20 a.m.
And the hype is not over.
Somers said he’s also been contacted by Dave Letterman and might appear on the CBS evening show.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Somers said. “It’s been fun.”
The men appeared nervous Tuesday morning just before their national TV debut but laughed and joked their way through the interview for about five minutes.
“Since you created this key from an X-ray, does that make it a ‘skeleton key?” Roker asked to the groans of the crew.
Somers expects to be the subject of more interviews about the experience during the next several days.
Oh, and he made a couple of spare keys for Allen, just in case.
=======================================================
X-ray key story draws national attention; locals appear on NBC's Today Show Tuesday
Frank Graham (North Platte Bulletin)
The key has passed but the story of how a North Platte locksmith duplicated a new one from an X-ray is garnering national attention.
John Somers, of Al’s Lock and Safe of North Platte, is a popular national media darling these days.
Somers duplicated a key from an X-ray of the stomach of Arthur M. Richardson of Denver June 23. Richardson swallowed the key the night before while trying to pull a prank on his buddy, Andrew Allen of North Platte.
The key belonged to Allen’s 1977 Chevrolet pickup.
After drinking a “couple of beers,” according to Richardson, he put the key in his mouth and pretended he was going to swallow it.
Then, accidentally, he did.
The key was the only one Allen had for his truck. They tried throwing it up with no luck. Realizing they had a problem, they went to Great Plains Regional Medical Center for an X-ray.
Sure enough, there was the key, in pristine profile, in Richardson’s stomach.
The men took the X-ray to Somers, a locksmith.
Somers was able to duplicate the key exactly while using the X-ray as a model and the key worked.
Richardson got a prescription for Milk of Magnesia and the original key passed from his system Monday. He said he did not recover it.
The story ran in the Bulletin and other local media sources and, because of its novelty, gathered steam and began to get national attention.
The Bulletin staff first realized the full impact of the story after being contacted by a producer from Good Morning America on ABC several times on Sunday.
Somers said he began to get calls at the shop and they’ve come from across the nation and around the world.
“We got phone calls from radio stations in Oregon, San Diego, Calif., Fort Collins, Colo., and even Amsterdam Holland.
“I could hardly understand the Amsterdam deejays,” Somers said. “They were hooting and hollering and having a great time.”
“It’s the biggest thing since the moon landing,” Somers said the men teased. “Well, maybe number three after the Michael Jackson trial.”
The story was featured on MSNBC Monday on Countdown, hosted by Keith Oberman and The Situation, hosted by Tucker Carlson. It was also featured on the Fox News Monday afternoon with Shepard Smith.
On Tuesday, Somers, Richardson and Allen gathered at the store and were interviewed live by Al Roker of the Today Show. A freelance crew from Denver set up the cameras and satellite feed and the men and their story was broadcast across the nation at 8:20 a.m.
And the hype is not over.
Somers said he’s also been contacted by Dave Letterman and might appear on the CBS evening show.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Somers said. “It’s been fun.”
The men appeared nervous Tuesday morning just before their national TV debut but laughed and joked their way through the interview for about five minutes.
“Since you created this key from an X-ray, does that make it a ‘skeleton key?” Roker asked to the groans of the crew.
Somers expects to be the subject of more interviews about the experience during the next several days.
Oh, and he made a couple of spare keys for Allen, just in case.
