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Lucky Escapes

Man sentenced to death escaped hanging on 3 occasions by chance.

Sounds like he was in prison for more than 20 years before being freed.
On death row in Malawi, Byson Kaula was nearly executed three times - but on each occasion the hangman stopped work before hanging all the prisoners on his list. So he survived… until the country stopped executing people altogether.

Byson Kaula says jealous neighbours were responsible for him being found guilty of murder. It was 1992 and murder in those days carried a mandatory death sentence.

Neighbours attacked one of his employees, Byson says, leaving him badly injured. The man couldn't walk without assistance, and while helping him get to the toilet - navigating steps that were slippery after heavy rain - Byson fell and dropped him. The man died later in hospital, and Byson - then in his 40s - was charged with murder.

In court, Byson's neighbours testified against him.

At that time, there was just one executioner - a South African who travelled between several countries in the region, carrying out hangings. When he arrived in Malawi, once every couple of months, the prisoners on death row knew that time, for some of them, had run out.

One day Byson remembers being told that his name was on the list of 21 people to be hanged within hours. A guard told him that executions would begin at 1300 and that he should "just start praying".

They continued until 1500, when the executioner stopped work. But he had not reached the end of the list. Three people, including Byson, would have to wait until he returned.

The same thing happened twice more, Byson says. The list was drawn up, but the hangman didn't finish it - and each time, by chance, Byson was among those left alive at the end of the day. On the third occasion, all the prisoners on the list were executed except him, he says.

In a way he was lucky, but the experience took its toll on him and he attempted suicide twice - only to survive this too.

After the establishment of multi-party democracy in Malawi in 1994, all executions came to a halt. The death sentence is still given out, even today, but no president has signed a death warrant for 25 years. Prisoners either languish on death row for years or have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

Of nearly 170 prisoners eligible for resentencing, 139 have so far been released. According to the legal charity Reprieve, many had mental health problems or were intellectually disabled. More than half of those entitled to a new hearing turned out to have no court record at all - it was unclear why they were even in prison.

The land Byson used to farm is now overgrown. His wife died during the long years he was in prison and his six children have grown up and moved away.

He lives alone, but takes good care of his mother, now in her 80s.

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I suppose escaping from the fire was lucky but that was where his luck ran out
Naked man saved after fire started in ‘brothel’ above ‘Simply Delicious’ takeaway
Richard Hartley-ParkinsonThursday 21 Feb 2019 7:43 am Share this article via facebookShare this article via twitterShare this article via messenger 15.2k SHARES A man wearing his birthday suit had to be rescued from a roof after a fire broke out in a suspected brothel. Firefighters got something of an eyeful when they went to help the man who was clinging to his final scraps of dignity after climbing through the window to escape the blaze in Northenden, Greater Manchester. He had been in adult ‘health club’ Ladybirds above Simply Delicious takeaway. Naked man saved from burning 'brothel' above a Chinese takeaway Play Video Loaded: 0% 0:00Progress: 0% PlayMute Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 0:28 Fullscreen

https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/21/nake...M1swk69B2INNlq8qI9aiGcJ7-khZ02yHkUQENhLT3L5Q8
 
Whale done!

It wasn’t exactly the tale of Jonah, but one man still has a whale of a story to tell.

South African dive tour operator Rainer Schimpf recalled nearly being swallowed by a whale after he was mistakenly swept into its jaws during a sardine feeding frenzy last month. The 51-year-old was snorkeling near Port Elizabeth Harbour when a series of photos captured him being sucked headfirst into a Bryde’s whale’s mouth. (Check out the video here or above.)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-...cid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__031119
https://twitter.com/7NewsSydney/status/1104595507907715073
 
An arrow escape.

Mobile phones truly can be life savers - especially, it seems, when an arrow is hurtling towards you.

That was the case for a 43-year-old man in Australia who came under attack by another man, according to police. The incident began when the attacker, carrying a bow and arrow, confronted the man outside his house, police said. The arrow was allegedly fired after the resident raised his phone to photograph the confrontation - only for the device to become an unlikely shield. Police said the arrow pierced the victim's phone, knocking it back into his face. He suffered a small cut but was otherwise unhurt.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-47563634?ocid=socialflow_twitter
 
Dog rescued 220km from Thai coast by rig workers

A dog discovered some 220km (135 miles) off the coast of Thailand has been rescued by a team of oil rig workers after the exhausted pooch was spotted paddling near a drilling platform.
The brown aspin swam towards the workers when they called out to him last Friday afternoon. He was then pulled to safety.

It is not clear how the dog became stranded so far out at sea. Some reports suggest he may have fallen from a fishing trawler.

The rig workers nursed him back to health, he was then sent to a vet in Thailand.

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Further to earlier posts about essential people being on hand in an emergency. In the town where Mspetes works a yoof walked out into traffic without looking and got badly hit by a bus. Standing only 10metres away were 2 A&E doctors and on the bus were A&E nurses on their way to work. Instant treatment meant the victim survived but only by the skin of their teeth.
 
Further to earlier posts about essential people being on hand in an emergency. In the town where Mspetes works a yoof walked out into traffic without looking and got badly hit by a bus. Standing only 10metres away were 2 A&E doctors and on the bus were A&E nurses on their way to work. Instant treatment meant the victim survived but only by the skin of their teeth.
I got hit by a car and knocked off my bike in Manchester. When the driver gave me her business card so that I had her contact details, it turned out she was a doctor employed by the NHS. She apologised for the fact she had just stood there and let the paramedics check me over, explaining that her doctorate was in statistics...
 
I got hit by a car and knocked off my bike in Manchester. When the driver gave me her business card so that I had her contact details, it turned out she was a doctor employed by the NHS. She apologised for the fact she had just stood there and let the paramedics check me over, explaining that her doctorate was in statistics...
Oh the irony. Glad you were ok.
 
i think its round his body, but in the link there are more pictures and they've put a collar on him.

what a lucky doggie though to be found so far from shore.
Ah, yes, I think you're right - what I'd taken to be another loose end of the rope actually goes round his body, but is concealed by the railing post. Bit odd that it goes behind his front legs, though. Thank you! It genuinely had been puzzling me.
 
Ah, yes, I think you're right - what I'd taken to be another loose end of the rope actually goes round his body, but is concealed by the railing post. Bit odd that it goes behind his front legs, though. Thank you! It genuinely had been puzzling me.

One imagines the crew didn't want to risk the dog falling overboard again so they tied a rope around it behind its front legs. I'd do that.
 
Further to earlier posts about essential people being on hand in an emergency. In the town where Mspetes works a yoof walked out into traffic without looking and got badly hit by a bus. Standing only 10metres away were 2 A&E doctors and on the bus were A&E nurses on their way to work. Instant treatment meant the victim survived but only by the skin of their teeth.

What a ridiculous accident - I wonder if a phone/headphones were involved..
 
First, the photo I thought about posting in Random / Peculiar Images ...

Piper-in-Tree.jpeg

... And now the remarkable story that made me put this item in Lucky Escapes ...
Pilot rescued from plane that crash-landed atop Idaho tree

A pilot who was trying to crash-land this week in an Idaho field instead brought his small plane to rest at the top of a 60-foot (18-meter) tree, officials said.

Pilot John Gregory was not hurt in the Monday night crash, which happened when his single-engine Piper Cub PA-18 lost power and a wing strut became entangled in the tree ...

Gregory was rescued from his perch atop the giant white fir by volunteer firefighter Randy Acker, who owns a tree removal company. ...

Acker had Gregory stand up in the plane so he could cut the pilot’s harness and clip him to a safety line for the descent. Gregory was brought down safely with the plane still lodged in the branches.

Most of the weight of the plane was borne by one tree, but it also was touching a nearby tree.

“Those wings were perfectly centered over the top of the tree,” said McCall Fire Capt. Brandon Swain.

A piece of the plane’s propeller and one of its wheels had fallen to the ground, but the rest of the plane was intact, suspended in the tree.

Acker cut branches as he scaled the tree until he was about 20 feet (6 meters) from the top, where higher branches were supporting the plane.

Swain said Acker then secured the plane to the tree using rope webbing before Gregory was rescued.

“I’ve never seen anything like this happen,” Acker said. “Just glad I was able to help.”

Officials are trying to determine how to remove the plane from its perch and warned people to stay away from it.
SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/82e406d6daf846d3977a83a400117942
 
I got hit by a car and knocked off my bike in Manchester. When the driver gave me her business card so that I had her contact details, it turned out she was a doctor employed by the NHS. She apologised for the fact she had just stood there and let the paramedics check me over, explaining that her doctorate was in statistics...

Not quite a lucky escape, but this reminds me of a couple of incidents many years ago.

I used to be an insurance claims investigator dealing with a range of claims including motor liability.

One morning, I was driving off to my first appointment when I noticed an identical car to mine 2 cars in front of me: same make, model, colour and trim. He stopped to let someone pull out, and the car between us ran into the back of him.

I pulled alongside, wound down my passenger window and leaned over. "I saw it happen. Here's my card in case you need a witness."

He took my card and laughed. "Thanks. That's amazing service: I'm insured with your company."

Unsurprisingly, they did not need to approach me for a statement.



There was another time when I was training a colleague. We were sitting in my car outside my house, reviewing the paperwork before setting off to the first call of the day. A car went past and clipped my door mirror, breaking it. I gave chase and caught up with him at traffic lights.

He tried to deny liability, first saying that he had not hit me at all, and then saying that "if he had," it was because I had pulled out into his path.

I explained that my car had been parked with the handbrake applied, the engine switched off, and the company that insured it had two of their insurance claims investigators sitting in it. He took it with good grace and reimbursed the cost of the mirror a day or two later.
 
Swallowed by Hippo

Tour guide loses arm but lives to tell the tale.

I was aware that my legs were surrounded by water, but my top half was almost dry. I seemed to be trapped in something slimy. There was a terrible, sulphurous smell, like rotten eggs, and a tremendous pressure against my chest. My arms were trapped but I managed to free one hand and felt around – my palm passed through the wiry bristles of the hippo's snout. It was only then that I realised I was underwater, trapped up to my waist in his mouth.

I wriggled as hard as I could, and in the few seconds for which he opened his jaws, I managed to escape. I swam towards Evans, but the hippo struck again, dragging me back under the surface. I'd never heard of a hippo attacking repeatedly like this, but he clearly wanted me dead.

Hippos' mouths have huge tusks, slicing incisors and a bunch of smaller chewing teeth. It felt as if the bull was making full use of the whole lot as he mauled me – a doctor later counted almost 40 puncture wounds and bite marks on my body. The bull simply went berserk, throwing me into the air and catching me again, shaking me like a dog with a doll.

Then down we went again, right to the bottom, and everything went still. I remember looking up through 10 feet of water at the green and yellow light playing on the surface, and wondering which of us could hold his breath the longest. Blood rose from my body in clouds, and a sense of resignation overwhelmed me. I've no idea how long we stayed under – time passes very slowly when you're in a hippo's mouth.

The hippo lurched suddenly for the surface, spitting me out as it rose. Mike was still waiting for me in his kayak and managed to paddle me to safety. I was a mess. My left arm was crushed to a pulp, blood poured from the wounds in my chest and when he examined my back, Mike discovered a wound so savage that my lung was visible.

Luckily, he knew first aid and was able to seal the wounds in my chest with the wrapper from a tray of snacks, which almost certainly stopped my lungs from collapsing and saved my life.

By chance, a medical team was nearby, on an emergency drill, and with their help I stayed alive long enough to reach a hospital with a surgeon. He warned me he would probably have to take off both my arms and the bottom of my injured leg. In the end, I lost only my left arm – they managed to patch up the rest.
 
Driver rear-ends a log truck, resulting in multiple logs impaling his SUV from windshield to rear ...

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Punch Line: Driver survives with only minor injuries ...

The driver apparently was leaning down to get something he dropped when he ran into the log truck ...

Because the driver was not in the upright position in his seat, his head ended up in a gap between the logs ...

"It was as if it was almost created just for his head" ...

FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/us/car-impaled-by-log-truck-trnd/index.html
 
Yesterday, I spoke to a guy I work with. He'd driven back home at 3 am from working all night and he fell asleep while driving. The next thing he knew, he was crawling out of a wrecked car in a field. He was completely uninjured, amazingly - and seems to be laughing about it.
I told him off, because he could have crashed into another person, or a house, or another car. Instead, he just ended up in a field and didn't hit anything solid. He showed me a picture of the car - newish car, smashed. I told him to count his blessings.
What. An. Idiot.
 
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