Tony Robbins Event Ends In Coal-Walking Burns

In a sense, Thursday's speech by self-empowerment maestro Tony Robbins was, indeed, motivational: no fewer than 21 people now have a new-found drive to forever more keep their feet away from very hot objects.

San Jose, Calif. fire officials attended to 21 individuals who suffered second- and third-degree burns walking across hot coals at Robbins' invitation at his "Unleash The Power Within" event, The Associated Press reported Saturday. Be certain that the damaged layers of skin have left "the power within" considerably less resistence to escaping - at the price, of course, of some fairly grisly, vulnerable-to-infection open wounds.

Robbins' website claims that a stroll with bare feet upon coals heated to between 1,200-2,000 degrees proves to attendees that "there is absolutely nothing that you cannot overcome." More than 6,000 attendees walked across the coals at the event, a statement from Robbins Research International reported.

To Robbins' credit, his people conducted the event with an open-burn permit, medical assistance standing by and a fire inspector overseeing the coal-walk.

"Once [the medical staff] became overwhelmed, they called for us," said San Jose Fire Dept. Capt. Reggie Williams.

RRI claimed participants were more than adequately warned.

"The intention of the event is to get your focus and your attention away from [pain] and look into the power within yourself and focus on just walking on the fire," participant Sahar Madani told The Associated Press. Friday's RRI statement further said, "We have been safely providing this experience for more than three decades, and always under the supervision of medical personnel . . . We continue to work with local fire and emergency personnel to ensure this event is always done in the safest way possible."