Your mum was right – chewing gum is bad for you

Without wishing to make light of another’s peril, sometimes you read a news story and think, “blimey, my mum wasn’t spinning a yarn.”

A teenager called Rhys Thomas is in a coma after swallowing some chewing gum which then caused a heart attack.

Now, I’ve never been that fond of chewing gum and tended to ignore it as a kid, but my mum and many others like her were always telling me and my mates that it was bad for you.

Now, admittedly, their take on gum was that it would clog up your intestines, rather than block your windpipe, but it seems they were right.

What freaks me out is that lots of other old wives’ tales could be true as well.

Imagine your face really staying ‘like that’, if the wind changes.

Or what about the chances of torrential rain, if you step on an ant. Ahh, so that’s why it’s rained all summer. I stepped on a termites’ nest!