It might appear to be somewhat of a problem in his chosen occupation. But Todd the Human Cannonball insists a simple fear of flying did not merit his being sacked.
Todd — 26-year-old daredevil Todd Christian — had no fear of the swift 12m flight he took when he was fired by a cannon high above the ring at Britain’s Cottle and Austin Circus.
Instead, British papers reported on Thursday, he is claiming unfair dismissal for refusing to fly to Brazil for specialist training after he injured a knee performing his trademark stunt.
”I know it sounds silly because I’m a human cannonball, but I don’t like long flights and if I’m on a plane for a long time I start to panic,” Christian was quoted as saying by the Times newspaper.
”They sacked me on the spot — I am devastated,” he said.
The product of a circus family who has also been a lion tamer and trapeze artist, Christian had been what was billed as the world’s only indoor human cannonball since February.
”The circus has offered me another job but I don’t want it. I was employed to get fired out of the cannon and that’s what I want to do,” he said.
Christian has consulted a lawyer and has been in contact with London-based employment arbitration service Acas, the Times said.
However, the circus said it was perfectly within its rights to dismiss him for refusing to take the training course in Brazil, which is intended to help the likes of astronauts deal with heavy G-forces.
”The cannon puts a lot of pressure on the leg and the back, so if Todd has had previous knee injuries it is a big problem,” said Cottle and Austin’s cannon trainer Marnie Dock, once the world’s first female human cannonball.
”Without the proper training in Brazil it would be too dangerous for him to continue. We did it for his own safety.”
The circus had consulted its own lawyers, and legally speaking, Christian ”doesn’t have a leg to stand on”, she added. – Sapa-AFP