32-year-old John Birdsall was born with cerebral palsy. He’s wheelchair-bound and speaks by tapping out words on an electronic communicator – but he hasn’t let that stop him doing a 15,000ft tandem skydive. Or go jet skiing. Or motorcycling.

Or travelling across Europe’s largest volcanic desert in Iceland on a quad bike, which was pulled the rest of the way by horses after it broke down.

John can certainly stand on his own two feet in terms of independence, but physically he’s only ever been able to shuffle around on his knees. But that changed when his friend Hamish Halley, from Flesh Wound piercing studio in Wellington, New Zealand, made him part of a suspension performance at local goth night, Shadow Play.

During the show, Hamish perforated John’s back with four hooks, attached him to ropes wrapped around a metal bar, then hoisted him to his full height – allowing him stand for the first time in his life.

Hamish tells Bizarre: “I first met John four years ago when I did a frenum cock piercing for him, which we’ve now switched for a Prince Albert and stretched to 7mm, as well as adding a nipple ring… so I knew he could handle pain! The guy is an adrenaline junkie with a great sense of humour, and his only weakness is Bacardi and Coke.

“I was chatting with my work partner Jimbo about how we could put on a body mod show that would break new ground. John rolled into the shop, and bingo! The suspension idea was born.

He was up for it and joked there was ‘nothing better he could imagine doing on a Saturday night than be exploited in front of a moshpit of goths!’ But he did ask how much it would hurt. I was honest with him; having four hooks straining through the flesh of your back ain’t gonna tickle. Yet John was adament he could rise to the challenge, and keen to begin his next adventure.”

In preparation for the big night, the Flesh Wound team paid special attention to safety, ensuring John would be monitored during the stunt so that, despite his communication difficulties, he could easily signal for the guys to stop if anything felt wrong.

But everything was all right on the night, as Hamish recounts: “After I’d introduced him to the audience under his stage name ‘Twisted John the Bird Man’, John parked his chair at the side of the stage and we carried him into the centre. His face grimaced with pain as I pushed each 3.2mm needle through his skin, following with the hooks.

A pounding industrial soundtrack (‘Leichenshcrei’ by Sozialistisches Patienten Kollektiv) and the crowd’s screams of encouragement helped him through it, and he managed a big smile as we began to pull on the ropes.

Without his Pink Floyd T-shirt, John resembled a contorted baby sparrow, his feet splayed outwards at angles. But as we hauled him upwards until he was standing taller than he’d ever been since his birth, he was transformed.” Twisted John – Bizarre salutes you!