What If Every Wound You Healed Became Yours?

What if you could heal anyone with one touch, but every wound you healed opened on your own body? Put your hand on a wound and think "mend", and it closes. The same wound opens on you, in the same place, at the same size. At first it's a scraped knee. Then there's a line outside your house, and a man offering a million dollars. Would you take a stranger's broken leg for a million dollars? Tell us in the comments. 0:00 232 days 0:37 The rules 1:34 Rule one 2:07 Juno's ankle 2:41 The fire 3:08 The line outside your house 4:16 One million dollars 5:07 Mom comes home 5:35 The cost starts to show 7:08 Ten million a year 7:35 The little boy 8:15 The crash 8:52 The wound you can't carry 9:34 Could this be real? 10:16 The second half of the rule THE REAL SCIENCE About one person in sixty feels a touch on their own skin when they watch someone else being touched. It's called mirror-touch synesthesia. (Banissy et al., Experimental Brain Research, 2009) Most sprained ankles start to feel better after about two weeks. (NHS, "Sprains and strains") Americans make about 43 million trips to the ER for injuries every year, more than one a second. (CDC NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2022) A broken finger takes about three to four weeks to heal. (AAOS OrthoInfo, "Fractures") Most broken shin bones take four to six months to heal. (AAOS OrthoInfo, "Tibia Shaft Fractures") Two weeks in a leg cast cost young men almost a quarter of that leg's strength. (Wall et al., Acta Physiologica, 2014) A scar is at best about 80 percent as strong as the skin it replaced. (Levenson et al., Annals of Surgery, 1965) A cracked rib usually heals on its own in two to six weeks. (NHS, "Broken or bruised ribs") You can't tickle yourself, because your brain predicts your own touch and turns it down. (Blakemore, Wolpert and Frith, Nature Neuroscience, 1998) An adult has about five liters of blood, and losing more than two is immediately dangerous. (American College of Surgeons, ATLS) An axolotl can grow back a whole leg in about six weeks. (Jessica Whited, TED-Ed, 2024) Young children can grow back the very tip of a finger if a doctor dresses it instead of stitching it shut. (Illingworth, Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 1974) A NOTE This is a story. Nobody can move a wound from one body to another. If you're hurt, see a doctor, and in an emergency call your local emergency number. POWER DEBT: every power comes due. Animated What If stories about superpowers and what they really cost. #whatif #animation #superpowers