Drunk Teen Swallows Apartment Key! Gives 'key parties' a new meaning

We all have our different ways of dealing with the inevitably of “last call”. Some of us order a tray full of enough high-octane booze to blind an elephant before the dreaded hour strikes. Others might drink only at places where the bartender is a childhood friend and a misguided sense of loyalty might persuade him or her to risk closure and/or heavy fines in order to keep the drinks flowing past the legally mandated hour.

But few of us are likely to be as dedicated to keeping the night alive as one British student -- pictured in the inset -- was. The 18-year-old was attending a party in the student residence and had drank six beers, along with some vodka and whiskey when his friends decided they had had enough of him and told him to go home and sleep it off.

Presumably at the stage of intoxication where not even this not-so-subtle invitation to leave was registering, the young Brit chose to fight for his inalienable right to party in a way that one might not expect from those out of short pants. In a tribute to those bizarre stage performers who consume things not meant to be taken internally, the youngster swallowed his key, figuring that all invitations to leave would have to be rescinded since he couldn't very well go home now.

Waking up after a night spent on a communal couch in the hallway of the dormitory, the youngster had no memory of his exploits on the night previous and thought that friends who told him about the key-swallowing were just winding him up. Abdominal cramps and a sore throat were enough to get him to reconsider this assumption and he went in for an X-ray -- pictured above -- which even made the attending physicians snigger (one wonders where doctors draw the line at laughing at patients? There ought to be a pamphlet for those just starting out, lest offence be given). He was told to "let nature take its course", and that he would be fine.

Nature did take its course and in what is the most disgusting aspect of this entire story... well let's just say he didn't have to pay his landlord the 20 pound replacement fee for a lost key.