A MAN who set a Guinness world record after growing his fingernails for 66 years has done the unthinkable and had them lopped off.
Shridhar Chillal from Pune in India holds the record for the longest fingernails ever recorded on a single hand.
When last measured the nails on his left hand boasted a combined length of 29ft 10.1in which equates to about the same length as a standard London bus.
The 82-year-old's passion for nails started when a teacher told him off for breaking a very long nail they had grown.
The story goes that the teacher told the 14-year-old Chillal that he wouldn't appreciate the necessary care and attention required to grow and maintain a nail like that until he did it himself.
So Chillal did exactly that, spending the next six decades or so growing them out to record levels. It wasn't always easy though.
In one previous interview, Chillal revealed that his record-breaking nails were so fragile he had to be extra careful not to break them in his sleep.
"I can't move much, so every half an hour or so I wake up and move my hand to the other side of the bed," he said.
He also experienced occasional pain in the nails from time to time though it did help gain something approaching fame.
That's all over now though after a historic nail-cutting ceremony took place at Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum in Times Square, New York.
A technician wearing a face mask was tasked with removing the nails using a power tool while the severed talons have been donated a New York museum where they will remain on display for all the world to see.
So at least it wasn't a complete waste.
