strength of hair

Have any of you been following that recent circus tragic accident where women acrobats fell 3 stories? They were doing a stunt where you suspend the body very high by the hair on your scalp but a carabiner snap broke, releasing them to the ground.

ABC news did a report on this routine and acrobats told a reporter that a ponytail of human hair is strong enough to support 12 TONS. I was thinking how amazingly strong the hair anchorage in the follicle is to support so much weight! A steel carabiner couldn’t support a heavy load while human hair held women up in the air like a chandelier.

It can withstand a lot of weight and I read that animals like Crocodiles can digest anything from a body(even bones) except for the hair. It’s tough alright.

I must say that news story is sad.