The skewer pierced his left cheek below the eye and went clean through his skull, without piercing the skin in the back of the neck. Xavier roused himself and ran home, still skewered.

Many religious devotees slash themselves with swords and pierce their cheeks with sharp skewers for the festival, alongside committing other painful acts like walking over burning coals.

Hundreds of men and women with metal skewers pierced through their cheeks and wearing costumes adorned with monkey skulls Saturday took part in a colourful parade on Borneo island. As they marched ...

“He fell down on it,” Shannon Miller said about his son, explaining how the skewer impaled the young boy’s cheek and drilled through his skull. “He said he felt something hot and burning ...

Participants go above and beyond, piercing cheeks and tongues with an assortment of blades, spikes, skewers and other, more exotic items. Agence France-Presse World ...

As burning incense fills the air, devotees in trances force skewers and swords through their cheeks in ritualistic acts underpinning southern Thailand's colourful -- and seemingly painful ...

PHUKET: As burning incense fills the air, devotees in trances force skewers and swords through their cheeks in ritualistic acts underpinning southern Thailand's colourful -- and seemingly painful ...

PHUKET: As burning incense fills the air, devotees in trances force skewers and swords through their cheeks in ritualistic acts underpinning southern Thailand's colourful -- and seemingly painful ...