The private hospital Aleris-Hamlet in Søborg, Denmark is collecting "healthy" feces for transplantation to patients, whose intestinal flora has suffered damage or has been otherwise suppressed. For the tested donors, though, it seems like a surprisingly easy way of earning an extra bit of cash.
For instance, 25-year-old Mads Tærsbøl, who resides in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, sells his stool on a daily basis for about $25 per sample. However, becoming a registered feces donor is no mean feat. Out of the 700 volunteers, only three were selected, as only one percent of Westerners have intestinal flora that is healthy enough to be donated.
Mads is an elite athlete, specializing in the 3,000 meters. Fueled by his dream is to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, he runs 30 kilometers a day and tries to eat as healthy as he can, avoiding sugar, processed dishes and all additives.
"My parents have always been blood donors and I wanted to be. But my training has prevented me from doing that. Therefore, I donate my stool instead," Mads told the Swedish Expressen daily, explaining that he delivers the product in a bag from Monday to Friday. By his own admission, he has to sleep a lot, avoid stress and keep himself in shape to create a quality product.
"I have a very good feeling that this helps. I have heard several stories, plus I also met a man who was very ill for years, but managed to get completely rid of the symptoms," Mads said.
Even though some of his friends admittedly made fun of him at the beginning, the laughs tend to subside when he reveals the importance of the eight-meter-long organ, the intestine.
By Mads's own admission, so far everything has worked out smoothly, apart from the slight inconvenience caused by his height of 190 centimeters, which demands almost gymnastics-like feats while producing and packaging.
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