Five people seeking to "unleash the power within!" ended up in the emergency room following motivational speaker Tony Robbins' hot coal-walk exercise in Dallas on Thursday. Dozens more were treated for burns on site, CBS News reports.
Robbins encourages his followers to "turn fear into power" by "storm[ing] across a hot bed of coals." "Once you start doing what you thought was impossible, you conquer the other fires of your life with ease," TonyRobbins.com explains.
At first hundreds of people were thought to have been burned when someone "not familiar with the fire walk observed the event and called 911 erroneously," Robbins Research International said in a statement. "While we are grateful to the quick and robust response from Dallas emergency services, only 5 of 7,000 participants requested any examination beyond what was readily available on site."
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The head trainer for the Robbins' organization, Tad Schinke, agreed that five hospitalizations isn't so bad. "I've been doing events with Tony for 23 years," he said, "and while it may not look like that way, this was a successful event."
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