Bagpipe Player May Have Died From Playing His Instrument

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Can playing the bagpipes kill you?

Well, to answer yes would be a significant exaggeration, but the story of a British bagpiper who died is serving as a cautionary tale.

The British man who died two years ago, played his bagpipes daily.

Those pipes were home to various types of mold and yeast spore, which the man, therefore, had been inhaling every day.

"It's not that big of a surprise actually, because there have been rumors about it. But, it's actually a pretty rare thing. It doesn't happen very often for bagpipers," Bay Area piper Jeff Campbell told KCBS.

Fortunately for bagpipers, there are tools to help avoid "bagpipe lung."

"There's some tools that you can use to dry out the stocks after you play them. It's basically a long pipe that you can dry out the inside of the stocks with afterwards, and it helps just pull them up a little bit, and air them out after you play," Campbell said.

 

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