'As a Christian, I would never desecrate my body like that': Frat boy hospitalized with 'alcohol enema' DENIES lewd practice as he threatens to sue police for leaking details

Student Alexander Broughton, 20, rushed to hospital unconscious with blood alcohol level five times the limit

Claims police report is false and media coverage implied he is gay



Party took place at Pi Kappa Alpha House at the University of Tennessee's Knoxville campus

Injuries to the student's rectum led hospital officials to fear he had been sodomized

No butt-chugging: Alexander P. Broughton, pictured, denies butt-chugging and is threatening to take legal action

A University of Tennessee student who found fame after 'butt-chugging' enough wine to put him in hospital has now denied using an alcohol enema because of his religion.

Alexander P. Broughton, 20, is threatening to take legal action, claiming that 'as a Christian' he would 'never desecrate his body' in such a way. He also says media reports have implied he is gay, which he isn't.



Broughton was rushed to the University of Tennessee Medical Center last month unconscious with an injured rectum and a blood-alcohol level more than five times the legal limit.

According to UT police, witness John Patrick Carney, from Broughton's fraternity, told officers his pal had been butt-chugging wine to get drunk faster.

But in a statement, Broughton said the use of an alcohol enema was 'the most gross idea I have ever heard.'

'I would never do such a thing,' he said. 'I am a Christian who would never desecrate my body in that manner. To do so would be against God's law.'



At a news conference today, Broughton's attorney, Daniel McGehee, said they intend to take legal action, though they haven't determined who the lawsuit will be against yet.

McGehee accused university and hospital officials of releasing 'false and incorrect information,' according to The Knoxville News Sentinel . The lawyer also claimed the UT Police report was released in violation of federal medical privacy laws.

He also said Carney now denies telling police about the 'butt-chugging', and that he would provide a sworn affidavit to support Broughton's lawsuit.

Lawsuit: Attorney Daniel McGehee, left, with his client, Alexander P. Broughton, right, claims the police report of Broughton experiencing alcohol poisoning from a wine enema is false

Christian: Broughton, pictured centre, says that 'as a Christian' he would 'never desecrate his body' with a wine enema

But UT officials insist the wine enema was the reason Broughton ended up in the emergency room, and say evidence collected at the fraternity house after that evening's 'blackout party' supported the claim.

Following the student's near death experience, the school suspended the campus fraternity until at least 2015. The Pi Kappa Alpha house on Knoxville's campus will close on October 7 with the national fraternity notified by the university last Friday that it is voluntarily surrendering its charter.

Broughton has recovered and returned to classes.

Thanks to the fraternity's drunken exploits, the bizarre way of getting drunk is giving parents, administrators and health care workers a new fear.

When Broughton was delivered to the hospital after midnight on September 22, his blood alcohol level was measured at 0.448 per cent — nearly six times the intoxication that defines drunken driving in the state. Injuries to his rectum led hospital officials to fear he had been sodomized.

Closing doors: The University of Tenensee Pi Kappa Alpha chapter will close on the Knoxville campus, their house pictured, after a student's near death this month

Brink of death: Alexander Broughton, 20, was given an 'alcohol enema' during a frat party at the University of Tennessee according to police

Police documents show that when an officer interviewed a fellow fraternity member about what happened, the student said the injuries had been caused by an alcohol enema, known among students as 'butt chugging.' 'It is believed that members of the fraternity were utilizing rubber tubing inserted into their rectums as a conduit for alcohol,' according to a police report. While Broughton told police he remembered participating in a drinking game with fellow members of the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter, he denied having an alcohol enema. Police concluded otherwise from evidence they found at the frat house, including boxes of Franzia Sunset Blush wine. Investigators also found three other students passed out in their rooms from drinking.

'He also had no recollection of losing control of his bowels and defecating on himself,' according to a university police report that includes photos of the mess left behind in the fraternity house after the party. The university responded with swift investigation and a decision last Friday to shutter the fraternity. The national Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity organization also accepted the withdrawal of the campus charter. Frat boys: The PIKE chapter at the university campus in Knoxville has been in trouble in the past for hazing

Alcohol enemas have been the punch lines of YouTube videos, a stunt in a 'Jackass' movie and a song by the punk band NOFX called 'Party Enema.'



But Corey Slovis, chairman of department of emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said actually going through with the deed can have severe consequences.

'It's something that offers no advantages, while at the same time risking someone's life,' he said.



'He also had no recollection of losing control of his bowels and defecating on himself' - University police report

The procedure bypasses the stomach, accelerating the absorption rate, Slovis said. Pouring the alcohol through a funnel can increase the amount of alcohol consumed because it's hard to gauge how much is going in.

'When you're dumping it into your rectum, often via a funnel, one or two ounces seems like such a minuscule amount,' he said. Ingesting more can create unconsciousness quite quickly, he explained.

The effects have been fatal in at least one case.



An autopsy performed after the death of a 58-year-old Texas man in 2004 showed he had been given an enema with enough sherry to have a blood alcohol level of 0.47 per cent. Negligent homicide charges were later dropped against his wife, who said she gave him the enema.



Students walking across campus this week generally responded with sighs and eye rolls when asked about the allegations.

'It's like a big joke,' said Erica Davis, a freshman from Hendersonville. 'Because who does that?'



Gordon Ray, a senior from Morristown, said the details of the case caught him off guard, but not the fact that fraternity members would be overdoing it with alcohol.

Irresponsible: Police found empty boxes of wine strewn around the frat house along with three others passed out in their rooms from drinking

'It is definitely over the top,' said Ray. 'But it doesn't surprise me, I don't guess.'



The harm the news has done to the university's national reputation was on the mind of several students.



'If someone wants to be stupid, then they should do it where it won't affect anyone else,' said Marlon Alessandra, freshman from Independence, Va.



James E. Lange, who coordinates alcohol and drug abuse prevention strategies at San Diego State University, said alcohol enemas aren't a common occurrence on campuses, though normal consumption still contributes to hundreds of student deaths annually. And many of those can be attributed to reckless attitudes about the consequences of heavy drinking, he said.



'It's not unusual to hear that students are drinking to get drunk,' he said.



Lange said he hopes students don't draw the wrong lessons from the University of Tennessee incident.



'Students and people in general are pretty good at denying that they are at risk for whatever happened to someone else,' he said. 'So they can look at something like this and say 'I'm OK because I would never do that.'



'However, they may be drinking heavily, or doing things like mixing alcohol with prescription meds that is putting them at serious risk,' he said.



To Tennessee freshman Cody Privett of Sevierville, there's nothing appealing about the incident on his campus.



'It's stupid, it's an unfortunate situation,' said Privett, of Sevierville. 'I mean there's partying, and then there's other things.'



It is not the first time the PIKE chapter has been involved in trouble at the university.

In 2008, the chapter was placed on administrative suspension after a hazing incident where pledges were allegedly asked to do push-ups on broken glass.

Three students were later hospitalized with staph infections. A member of the fraternity said pledges were asked perform a 'lateral ab movement' known as 'bows and toes' on the bathroom floor.

The university's Office of Student Judicial Affairs charged the chapter with hazing and it pleaded guilty.