Nigerian man ‘goes blind’ during bizarre seven-day ‘crying’ (but won’t get Guinness World Record)

A Nigerian man who forced himself to cry for an entire week has recounted how he was temporarily blinded.

Tembu Ebere’s non-stop “crying”, a Guinness World Record attempt, left him battling headaches, puffy eyes and a swollen face.

But BBC he claims that he even went partially blind for 45 minutes.

Ebere, who claims to be a comedian, promoted his efforts on TikTok and, under the username @237_towncryer, told his followers: “Send me your problems, I’ll be crying for you.”

Tembu Ebere, from Nigeria, said he had experienced headaches, puffy eyes, a puffy face and experienced temporary blindness for 45 minutes.

The video, posted under the username @237_towncryer, has since garnered 5.3 million views as baffled TikTokers applaud his attempt.

She sat crying and clutching her head next to a live timer, which read two hours and seven minutes.

Ebere’s video garnered 5.3 million views from confused TikTokers around the world, with some even cheering for him. One said, ‘Come on, man, you can do it.’

Others joked, “Honestly, I think I’ve cried the longest,” and “Nah, I still hold that record.”

Speaking to the BBC, the ‘town crier’ said: ‘I had to re-strategise and reduce my regrets’, adding that he was determined to cry towards his goal.

The BBC did not reveal how he became temporarily blind. However, the sensation can occur from headaches and a buildup of pressure within the eye.

Despite the difficulties he has faced, he has not officially applied for Guinness World Records, so his attempt will not be recognized, it was claimed.

This is despite him posting on social media that it was an official attempt.

The official records site has seen a frenzy of record-breaking attempts in Nigeria, sparked by a four-day cook-a-thon by one chef capturing public attention.

Hilda Baci tried to cook continuously for 100 hours, which was so often that it caused the official Guinness World Records website to crash for two days.

As she strove to ‘put Nigerian cuisine on the map’, she was cheered by the public, celebrities and the Vice President of Nigeria.

Hilda Baci sparked a record frenzy in Nigeria after trying to cook continuously for 100 hours,

He managed 93 hours of crushing the previous cook-a-thon in India in 2019 and captured the interest of viewers across the globe.

The 26-year-old clocked in 93 hours and 11 minutes, breaking the previous cooking marathon record set in India in 2019.

Its success saw a flurry of similar attempts, with people participating in kissing marathons, singing marathons, and praying marathons.

John Obot, a Nigerian schoolteacher, told the BBC that he would aim to spend 140 hours reading classic literature aloud by September 2023.

He said that he had chosen a meaningful record, adding: “The motivation is to promote the reading culture in Nigeria.”

Other attempts have faced criticism for being offensive. A suggested kissing world record attempt was banned in Ekiti state and authorities told organizers they would be punished with jail terms if it went ahead.

‘[The] ‘kiss-a-thon’ as an event is not only absurd, immoral, unhealthy [but] capable of denigrating the image of Ekiti’, said a statement from the Ministry of Culture.

Meanwhile, a masseuse, attempting a 72-hour massage marathon, fainted during a live broadcast. The young woman managed 53 hours before collapsing on her client and being revived by an assistant.

Guinness World Records has advised record-breaking hopefuls to be careful and contact the body, or risk disqualification.

“Please stop the record-a-thons,” the organization wrote on social media.

The comments sparked criticism from some Nigerians who questioned whether the record organization was “tired” of their country, leading it to claim it was accepting “applications from all over the world”.