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Blaine suffering, with 2 days left
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Illusionist David Blaine is said to be suffering from palpitations and breathing difficulties as he enters the final stretch of his starvation stunt. For the last 42 days the American magician has been suspended in a glass box next to London's Tower Bridge, with water as his only sustenance. He is due to emerge on Sunday evening, when he will be taken directly to hospital. A member of Blaine's medical team, paramedic Paul Kenny, told CNN: "Mentally he's very, very positive. Physically not very good. He's very, very tired. He's got a few problems breathing-wise. A few problems with his chest, due to the cold." The magician is experiencing an irregular heartbeat, caused by a lack of potassium and by thinning of the heart's walls, according to a statement on his Web site. Although no doctors have examined him, his urine is being checked daily to ensure he is not at risk from kidney or liver failure. Blaine has said that the medical team will only intervene if he stops moving completely for two days. His Web site says that by day 38, Blaine was "occasionally incoherent and has been exhibiting signs of delusion," smelled strongly of sulfur and was longing to take a bath. Kenny told CNN that when Blaine emerges from his box, he will be put in an ambulance and taken to a private hospital, where his blood will be tested. "The clinicians then will slowly but surely start feeding him, first just fluids. We originally said he'd be in hospital for four weeks. Now we're saying two weeks," he said. "I think he should be able to get up in two to three days. He could be eating again in four to five days -- but not large meals. It depends on how his stomach reacts. He'll be on drips at first and then blended food. "There'll be no Champagne when he comes out on Sunday. Anything at all food wise which touches his lips could cause problems with him." Earlier this week Blaine, 30, told CNN he would never attempt such a stunt again. (Full story) Speaking via audio link, he said: " It's already been bad, my vision's really blurry, my head is always throbbing, I black out a lot, I'm just trying to conserve and make it to the end." He has endured ridicule from the public, with eggs and golf balls hurled at his box. Spectators have cooked food nearby and bared their breasts or buttocks at him. Other ill-wishers have banged drums and made other attempts to keep Blaine awake at night. By the final week, however, taunts had largely been replaced by encouraging shouts and handwritten signs stuck along the fence around Blaine's riverside enclosure. Hundreds of people -- teenagers, tourists, families with young children -- gathered daily beneath the box. Meanwhile, 10 police officers face disciplinary action after they visited the site of Blaine's stunt while they were supposed to be on patrol, police said Friday. (Full story) Thousands are expected to turn out Sunday to watch Blaine's exit, which will be broadcast on television and streamed to paying subscribers on the Internet. This is his first stunt outside the United States. In May 2002, he stood atop a 24-meter high flagpole, also in New York, for 35 hours without a safety net. In November 2000, Blaine encased himself in a six-ton block of ice in New York City's Times Square for 58 hours.
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