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Ridiculous Accidents

I saw a report on TV of that American guy and the X-ray of the drill bit through his head. It was a MASSIVE bit, about a foot long. But the guy seemed fine, apart from the eye injury.
 
On the freak accident front:

Bizarre Wall Collapse At N. Side CHA Building Explained



Tuesday, March 23, 2004, 3:14 a.m.

By Bernie Tafoya
WBBM Newsradio 780

(Chicago) -- Roach repellent, pilot lights and cigarettes are not a good combination. Just ask a couple of residents of a North Side CHA apartment building.

Officials believe a combination of roach defogger and a stove pilot light or lit cigarette is to blame for a freak accident in a CHA senior citizens apartment building in the Lincoln Park neighborhood this morning.

Around 4:15 a.m., the wall and front door of Apartment 530 separated from the ceiling and crashed into the hallway of the Dickens and Burling Apartments at 2111 North Halsted. Even the framing surrounding the door blew out.

Next door, in Apartment 528, a wall shared by the two apartments cracked from ceiling to floor and pushed out a bed in which 72-year old Lydia Constantinescu was sleeping.

Constantinescu says pictures and other wall decorations came crashing down around and on her.

She says she was shaken, but pinched herself to make sure she was okay. Joe Gilmore says the explosion in his apartment happened as he started to lie down in bed after making himself a cup of coffee.

But CHA spokesman Derrick Hill says Gilmore has offered several different stories about what happened.

Hill says the most likely scenario is that roach defogger spray set off in Joe Gilmore's apartment in the hours previous to the explosion were ignited by his stove pilot light or his lit cigarette.

Hill says he saw a similar thing happen last year on the South Side.

Neither Gilmore nor Constantinescu was physically injured. They've been moved to other units in the building.
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http://www.wbbm780.com/asp/ViewMoreDetails.asp?ID=36123
 
How I broke my nose (for the severalth time)

..having busted it a number of times (rugby, inept boxing, reckless bicycling, ill-advised discussions with people in the pub, usual stuff) the coup de grace came when I was 24.

Went to a fairground, a bit drunk, as was my wont, and like all my other Guinness fuelled friends decided to show how unlikely I was to chuck up by choosing the most bravado-inducing rides - we all did the Zipper, that conveyor belt type machine that tumbles you around while it rotates on a vertical axis; the big row of seats that then zoom round and round vertically (and always seem to have bad airbrushed paintings of Madonna on them - discuss); the waltzer (passe to the anti-emetic thrill seeker) before finally deciding on the Meteor - a big, circular, steel cage, separated into mini-booths.

Waited my turn, swaying slightly in the light breeze and waft of hot-dog, got onto the ride and assumed the position, nonchalantly (finally extinguishing fag on beng told a third time). It started to spin, as it accelerated the centrifugal force kicked in, pinning me to the wall, and then started to tilt upwards, accompanied by girly screams (not from me - I was wayyy too cool for that, an illusion which would shortly disappear)... wasn't feeling sick at all, no no, was king of the world..glanced sideways at my mate, who was looking decidedly off-colour, but was nonetheless holding his beer well... then my nose started to pre-occupy me. Now, I've made many many decisions with the assistance of beer, some of which have been surprisingly good (in vino veritas, after all) - others, not so good (remember in vino veritas is an outright lie at times).

My nose was itching. To scratch it, adding to my cool image, and maybe yawn ostentatiously, or just put up with it?

Tricky, when you have an image to maintain. Decided to scratch it. With tremendous effort, the world and the night sky zooming past in rapid succession, I forced my arm away from the wall, and stretched it out in front of my face... relaxed my arm just enough.. SPLAT!!

Now, my mate hated the sight of blood, and the drops of it that were hitting him in the face did him no good whatsoever, and gave him the impetus he needed to get rid of the beer he'd been so lovingly hoarding.

It didn't miss a large number of people... so, if you want to be cool, avoid the Guinness / fairground combo. It doesn't win friends or indeed influnce people. And you get a squishy nose into teh bargain.
 
I managed to get my foot run over - while sitting in the back of a car... My friend was driving a borrowed car & she stalled it - thinking she'd stopped, I opened the door just behind the drivers seat and swung my foot out.
She managed to start it again so I swung my foot back into the car but got it caught under the back wheel...Luckily someone took the handbrake off as I was yelling hysterically, and the car rolled off my foot.

Anyhoo, no broken bones but walked with a limp for a long time.

My mates took me to the local doctors house (bearing in mind this was rural Cumbria) and his daughter invited us to come in to wait for the doctor - when I tried to hop up the step and fell flat on my face...

You could say it wasnt my day.. :rolleyes:

Oh yeah I walked through a plate glass door when I was 3yrs old and came through with no cuts - although my dad had a nasty cut on his arm trying to save me - oops
 
I've just this evening stabbed myself in the palm of the hand with a skewer, which I was using to mix up plant food in a watering can. :( Quite sore.

This thread also reminds me of the road accident I had whilst staying in a holiday cottage in Wales. I had a twisted ankle so was given crutches, but I couldn't use them because I had nasty bruises to the ribs too. So there we were in the pouring rain, pitch dark, having been deposited at the cottage by a taxi, with me going up the long stone steps to the front door backwards on my bum. Laughing hysterically, mainly because my bum kept squashing snails as I went. :cross eye Hubcap had to pick the shells and goo off me when we got in.
 
once onmy old Triumph the Ht lead to the spark plug came off the plug cap and whiped round to my knee while we were going along...My leg shot out straight like a shot, luckily it gave me a couple of shots and moved on, but boy was it a suprise!
 
Playing with a machete as a kid and cut my knee open and had to have stitches. (wasn't mine a neighbor kid brought it over and we were hacking underbrush to build a fort).
 
Dog killed, man hurt in bizarre lift accident

26 March 2004

AMSTERDAM — A dog was killed in a bizarre lift accident in Breda on Thursday morning and a 32-year-old man was treated in hospital after falling 3.5m down the lift shaft.

It all started when the dog ran out of the lift just as the doors closed. The lift car and the dog's owner went up, but the dog's lead was caught between the doors and the dog was pulled up from outside as the lift went upwards.

The Breda man went to help the dog, but forgot that when the lift doors open, the lift would be one floor higher.

The man fell 3.5m into the lift shaft and the fire brigade was called in to rescue him. He was taken to hospital suffering from an injured shoulder and knee.

A spokesman for the Brabant police told Expatica that the dog was attached to a lead that could be pulled out longer, but the dog was still strangled. The injured man was not the dog's owner.

Thursday's accident was a reminder of an accident in the US in which a surgical resident was killed at a Houston hospital when he was decapitated in August 2003.

The 35-year-old victim was stepping into a second-floor lift when the doors suddenly closed, pinning his shoulders. His head was severed when the lift moved upwards.

A hospital employee who witnessed the accident, spent about 20 minutes trapped inside the lift before firefighters rescued her.
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http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=6011
 
Back last summer we were taking down the old stock fencing and loose posts to replace it with nice shiney new ones. A mate came over to help and he had the job of using fencing pinchers to remove all the old staples, whilst I rolled up the old fencing. All went really well, he was nearly to the top of the first field and I was fairly close behind rolling up the fence. I stopped for a moment as I saw him trying to pull out one of the staples which wouldn't budge.

Later he said he thought he could pull the staple out if he put his foot against the post to give him better leverage. The post was quite loose and was leaning backward with his weight on it, and I watched in a kind of fascinated this-is-going-to-be-interesting way. Sure enough he lost his balace, hopped backward just as the fence post with the stock fencing still attached (acting like a spring) sprang forward and caught him in the nads! As he bent over double it rocked again and clocked him on the head.

I tried very hard not to laugh honest!!:D
 
I suppose it had to happen:

Amusement Ride Accident Injures 7 in Fla.


MIAMI (AP) - An amusement ride broke open and ejected several passengers at a county fair, injuring seven people including a teenage girl who was in critical condition.

A piece of paneling came off ``The Gravitron'' while it was running late Friday, Miami-Dade police spokesman Juan DelCastillo said Saturday. The ride spins at high speed to generate centrifugal force that pins seated passengers against its interior wall.

A bolt that held the panel in place sheared, said Liz Compton, a Department of Agriculture spokeswoman.

About 40 to 45 people were on the ride when the accident happened, said Phil Clark, chief executive of the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition.

Three of the passengers were hurled out through the opening left by the panel, DelCastillo said. There was no immediate word on how far the three people were thrown.

A 16-year-old girl who suffered head and upper body injuries was in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital, DelCastillo said. Six other people suffered injuries that weren't life threatening.

The ride passed inspection before the fair opened March 18, Compton said.

The fairground was closed after the accident but reopened for normal hours Saturday. The ride was impounded and an engineer planned to inspect it on Monday.

Agriculture officials do not believe the ``Gravitron'' has been involved in any other accidents in the state, but the agency was trying to learn if any other fairs were using a similar ride. Those rides would be re-inspected.
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http://cnn.aimtoday.cnn.com/news/st.../20040403/1609340153.htm&sc=1110&floc=NW_5-L1
 
April 7, 2004

Teen Gets a Bad Case of the Flue


Boy, 14, spends eight hours trapped in the chimney of a park facility in Orange while trying to retrieve a football.


By Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writer


Santa Claus he's not.

A teenage Orange boy was plucked from the chimney of a park facility early Tuesday, more than eight hours after his ill-fated pursuit of a wayward football, police and fire officials said.

The 14-year-old, whom authorities declined to identify, descended feet-first into the chimney of a Hart Park recreation building about 9 p.m. Monday to retrieve the ball that had somehow fallen in, said police Sgt. Dave Hill.

Police were alerted by a passing motorist to screams for help coming from the park shortly after 4:45 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

Following the voice to the recreation building's roof, officers found the cold and disoriented boy clutching the football. They called firefighters for assistance.

"When I saw him, I said, 'Whoa, this is going to be interesting,' " said Battalion Chief Frank Eickhoff of the Orange City Fire Department.

Eickhoff said it was his first extraction from a chimney in more than 20 years as a firefighter.

Wedged 8 to 10 feet down the chimney, the boy had stripped off most of his clothing trying to free himself, Hill said.

Firefighters were able to lasso the boy, and three of them hoisted him out of the chimney about 5:30 a.m.

"He was covered in soot from head to toe, and cold," Hill said. "He had some trouble telling officers information about where he lived."

The boy was treated for minor scratches at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange and released to his mother.

The mother, Hill said, had last seen the boy in the house Monday night and thought he had gone to bed, unaware of his ordeal until police notified her.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-me-chimney7apr07.story
 
I suspect quite a few of us a wary of the superloo despite there largely being no risk but......

Trapped boy rescued from superloo

A young boy had to be freed by the Fire Service after becoming trapped inside an automated public lavatory in Devon, it has emerged.

The boy, thought be 10 or 12, became stuck inside the so-called superloo in Plymouth's Central Park on Saturday.

In a statement, the owner of the facility, JC DeCaux, said it did not know why the door failed to operate.

The firm said children aged 10 or under should not use the kiosks unaccompanied as they are weight sensitive.

A member of the public heard cries from help from inside the toilet kiosk which is situated in Plymouth's Central Park.

The fire service was called and the door to the facility was forced open.

The boy was said to be quite distressed but otherwise well.

JC DeCaux said without the full details of the incident it was impossible to be sure of exactly what happened.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/devon/3648633.stm

Published: 2004/04/22 07:10:32 GMT

© BBC MMIV
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I'd like to see your American footballers do something like this:

A tooth stuck in head - but hooker plays on

Martin Richards
Wednesday April 28, 2004
The Guardian

Even by the macho standards of rugby league, Shane Millard's battle scar takes some beating. The Widnes Vikings' tough Australian hooker was being treated for a head wound after the match with Castleford Tigers on Sunday, when an opponent's tooth was found embedded in his head.

Millard had sustained a head gash when he collided with the Tigers' Dean Ripley but was patched up at half-time and sent back into the fray with a head guard.

It was only when he was being stitched after the game that the Castleford physiotherapist alerted Widnes to the possibility that Ripley could have left a nasty sou venir from the accidental clash - namely part of a tooth.

"Ripley apparently had half of a tooth missing, so the club doctor, who said human bites carry more germs than a cat's or a dog's, was sufficiently concerned for me to have a hospital check-up after the game," Millard said yesterday.

"I went to the hospital nearest the club at Whiston, where they took x-rays of the wound and said there was definitely something lodged in there.

"They told me to come back the following morning when they would have a clearer picture.

"Sure enough it was part of a tooth. I was given a local anaesthetic and then they blasted a tooth out with three packs of saline solution. The tooth came out just as the anaesthetic was wearing off.

"I've had a few injuries in my time but this is certainly the strangest. But I'd rather have a gash on my head than lose a part of a tooth. At least I keep my good looks."

The injury is not unique. Two years ago another Australian, the Wigan wing Jamie Ainscough, was found to have the tooth of the St Helens centre Martin Gleeson embedded in his arm several weeks after playing in a derby game.

The wound became so badly infected that there were fears he might lose the arm, but he recovered to play again towards the end of the season.

The courage found within rugby league is legendary, with examples of players carrying on regardless with broken arms and ankles, most notably when the Great Britain captain Alan Prescott played on with a broken arm against Australia in Brisbane in 1958 - and the Lions still won the game.
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http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyleague/comment/0,10070,1204897,00.html
 
I had been fishing with my girlfriend and a six pack of beer. We were standing on an unlit crop of rocks and Jill had just caught a fish, it looked to be a good size fish too. After the hooks had been removed and it had stopped flapping about, Jill asked me what sort of fish it was. I thought it was a Tailor and I said to her that one way to tell if it was a Tailor is to look at the teeth, if they look sharp and razor like then it is a Tailor. I wasnt sure about the ID because it was bigger than any Tailor we had caught before.
At that point I tried to open its lower jaw by pushing down on his chin with my little finger.( can you see where this is going?)
I really thought that would be a good idea even after all the beer, anyhow the fish in its last moments, lunged at my little finger faster than I could comprehend. I just remember feeling strong pain in my hand then picking up the torch and bludgeoning the last ounce of life out of the fish, only to look down and find blood everywhere and a large chunk of my little fingertip gone.
The fish severed an end artery and I had to go to the hospital the next day because it wouldn't stop bleeding.
On the up side he tasted excellent.Filleted,pan fried with a touch of flour batter and a twist of lemon.
And I have the scar to prove it.
 
Milan artist's installation sparks outrage - and injury

Sophie Arie in Florence
Saturday May 8, 2004
The Guardian

Maurizio Cattelan, one of Italy's leading modern artists, has a reputation for stirring controversy. But his latest work has surpassed all expectations, offending one man so grievously he ended up in hospital with concussion.

His artistic creation involves three plastic child dummies hanging from nooses in an old oak tree in Milan's busy May 24 square. The life-like bambini appeared unperturbed, their faces calm and angelic, their wide eyes turned to the sky. Traffic jams soon formed at lights below and passersby gathered to stare and argue.

Milan mayor, Gabriele Albertini, attended the inauguration of the work, calling it "a good example of anti-conformist culture".

But by Thursday night one passerby, Franco de Bernardo, 42, had become so angry at the effect it had on his nephew, he returned with a ladder and saw to cut the corpses down.

When he got to bambino No 3, he lost his grip and fell, cracking his head on a railing below and ending up in a pool of blood beneath the dangling child.

He spent the night in hospital with concussion and an injury to his right eyebrow. Firemen removed the three plastic children.

"We are shocked," said Massimiliano Gioni of the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, which sponsored the work. "It was a work meant to make people talk. We did not think it would come to this."

The foundation said it planned to relocate the work, which was designed to "show the tension there is in reality".

Cattelan defended his creation. "Childhood, this strange place where traumas happen and you dream incredible dreams, is a place I always return to. The fact is we seem more violence on TV these days than in this work of art," he told La Repubblica.

But politicians had criticised the work even before it produced its first casualty. City councillor Stefano Di Martino described it as a way of "letting out people's sick fantasies".

It was not known what plans Cattelan had for the dismantled installation which had been set to grace central Milan until June 6.

Cattelan is possibly Italy's richest modern artist, making a name with shock installations, including a prostrate pope struck by a meteorite and a stuffed squirrel committing suicide at a kitchen table.

His taxidermic horse suspended from a ceiling, called La Ballata di Trotsky (The Ballad of Trotsky), fetched £619,750 at Christie's in 2001.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1212212,00.html
 
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - Page updated at 12:45 A.M.


Tank explodes at Spokane sewage plant; three injured, one missing

By John K. Wiley
The Associated Press


SPOKANE, Wash. — An explosion blew a hole in a 2-million-gallon sewage tank today, causing an undetermined amount of waste to spill into the Spokane River, a fire official said. Three workers were injured and one was missing.

Rescue boats searched the river and Spokane County sheriff's deputies searched the river banks near the Wastewater Treatment Plant northwest of the city.

Four treatment plant workers had gone to check on an unusual pressure buildup at the tank and were either on or near the tank at the time of the 3 p.m. explosion, Fire Chief Bobby Williams said. The cause of the pressure buildup and explosion was under investigation.

One worker suffered breathing problems and was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center. Nursing Supervisor David Kellogg said a 52-year-old male was in serious condition late today.

A second worker, with what Williams described as minor injuries, was taken to Deaconess Medical Center for evaluation and a third suffered injuries so minor he did not require treatment. Deaconess declined to release information on the employee's condition, citing privacy laws.

All four employees were men. Officials did not release their names.

The explosion blew a "relatively small hole" near the top of the tank, Williams said. That loosened the tank's lid, which then fell into the tank, causing some of the contents to splash out.

There was no immediate word on the size of the spill but officials said the tank is 30 feet tall, and was still filled to a height of 20 to 25 feet after the accident. The remaining contents of the tank were being pumped out.

Washington Department of Ecology spokeswoman Jani Gilbert said it was not known how much sewage sludge made it to the river, but the quantity was not believed to be significant.

The Spokane Regional Health District issued a warning for people living downstream to avoid withdrawing drinking water from the river, or using it to irrigate crops or for livestock use, for at least three days.

Gilbert said there are no municipal drinking water withdrawal points downstream from the plant. City employees will be testing the river water for bacterial contamination, she said.




Officials from the state Department of Labor and Industries were on the scene, but did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

"We haven't seen anything like this — it was not a normal operation," Spokane Public Works Director Roger Flint said. He said the remainder of the plant was operating normally.

The plant is on the Spokane River, several miles northwest of downtown Spokane, near Riverside State Park.

The tank is one of three "digester" tanks at the treatment plant, which treats 44 million gallons of sewage a day.

The digesters break down sewage sludge before it is sent to another facility to remove liquids. The sludge then is generally sold to farmers as fertilizer.

No evacuations were ordered.

Williams said there was no threat of additional explosions.

City crews were to begin cleaning up the spilled sewage sludge on Tuesday, Gilbert said.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001924896_webexplosion10.html

Rupture at Wastewater Treatment Plant, Worker Missing


An rupture blew a hole in a 2-million-gallon sewage tank near Spokane on Monday afternoon, causing an undetermined amount of waste to spill into the Spokane River.

Three workers were injured and one is missing.

Rescue boats searched the river and Spokane County sheriff's deputies searched the river banks near the Wastewater Treatment Plant northwest of the city. News 4 has learned rescue crews searching for the missing man are concentrating their efforts on the sewage tank itself.

Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams says four treatment plant workers had gone to check on an unusual pressure buildup at the tank and were either on or near the tank at the time of the 3 p-m explosion. The cause of the pressure buildup and explosion is under investigation.

One worker suffered breathing problems and was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

A second worker, with what Williams describes as minor injuries, was taken to Deaconess Medical Center for evaluation and a third suffered injuries so minor he did not require treatment.

All four employees were men. Officials did not release their names.

The rupture blew a ``relatively small hole'' near the top of the tank. That loosened the tank's lid, which then fell into the tank, causing some of the contents to splash out.

There's no immediate word on the size of the spill. But officials say the tank is 30 feet tall, and was still filled to a height of 20 to 25 feet after the accident. The remaining contents of the tank are being pumped out.

Washington Department of Ecology spokeswoman Jani Gilbert says it is not known how much sewage sludge made it to the river, but the quantity is not believed to be significant.

Still, the Spokane Regional Health District is warning people living downstream to avoid withdrawing drinking water from the river, or using it to irrigate crops or for livestock use, for at least three days.

The tank is one of three ``digester'' tanks at the treatment plant, which treats 44 million gallons of sewage a day.

The digesters break down sewage sludge before it is sent to another facility to remove liquids. The sludge then is generally sold to farmers as fertilizer.
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http://www.kxly.com/common/getStory.asp?id=36369
 
May 11, 2004

Driver survives bizarre crash in Southeast Portland



PORTLAND, ORE. - A driver trying to avoid getting in an accident this morning instead ended up flying up a power pole guy wire.
The accident happened at Southeast 122nd and Burnside and snarled traffic for more than an hour.

The truck smashed the transformers at the top of the pole, then fell back down on its top.

Miraculously, the driver escaped with just a scratch.
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http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=67227
 
Rupture at Wastewater Treatment Plant, Worker Missing

Jesus, I initially read this as "Rapture at Wastewater Treatment Plant, Worker Missing" and wondered whether the rapture had occurred and if so, why only one person, at a wastewater tratment plant, was taken of to heaven while the rest of us were left to suffer 1000 years of torment (or whatever it is we sinners have to suffer).

Zane
 
Turtle flies into van windshield on I-95

By Adam L. Neal staff writer
May 13, 2004

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Ralph Glaister was shell-shocked when a flying turtle crashed through his windshield Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 95.

"There was a loud crash. When I looked up, there was glass all over me and a turtle sitting beside me in my van," the 45-year-old Deerfield Beach resident said. "It seemed like it happened in slow motion."

Luckily, both Glaister and the cooter box turtle were not seriously injured. The turtle suffered minor cuts to its tail and back legs, but the shell was not damaged.

Glaister walked away without a scratch.

Glaister was more worried about getting immediate help for the 1-foot-long turtle than fixing his windshield after the crash.

"It is amazing (the turtle) wasn't injured," he said. "He came flying through the windshield at 70 miles per hour. Not many things can live going through a windshield like that."

He was driving to visit his girlfriend, Vero Beach resident Tracy MacLean, about 5 p.m. when the incident happened.

Glaister was heading north on I-95 just south of Indrio Road in St. Lucie County when he noticed the turtle attempting to cross the interstate.

"I saw the turtle crossing the road when it was slightly clipped by the truck in front of me, which sent it flying into the air and through my windshield," he said.

"You couldn't have planned it better. He hit the glass on the passenger side, busted that out and landed next to me."

Instead of stopping and risking more time waiting for help, Glaister took the stowaway to MacLean's house and contacted the Indian River County Sheriff's Office.

An Indian River County Animal Control officer and sheriff's deputy checked the turtle for injuries.

"I have heard about a lot of four-legged animals going through windshields, but never, ever, a turtle," said Detective Joe Flescher, sheriff's office spokesman.

Glaister plans on releasing the turtle into a pond near MacLean's house, he said.

"I watched it happen and I am still amazed and surprised," he said. "How am I going to explain this story?"
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http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,1651,TCP_16736_2881548,00.html

I'm glad to hear the turtle is OK :)

Emps
 
3rd lawn mower incident partially amputates infant’s foot

By DAVE RANK - GM Today Staff

May 20, 2004


TOWN OF TRENTON - A third lawn mower accident this month partially amputated the left foot of an 18-month-old boy Wednesday afternoon, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department reported.

The accident occurred in the town shortly before 2:26 p.m. when the boy’s father was backing a riding lawn mower and failed to see his son behind him, reported Sgt. Randy Boudry of the Sheriff’s Department.

The father immediately placed his son in his vehicle and drove him to St. Joseph’s Community Hospital of West Bend. The boy was then transported to Children’s Hospital by Flight for Life.

The name of the victim, his family and his condition were not released this morning by the Sheriff’s Department.

In a similar accident May 2, a 2-year-old town of Hartford boy suffered the loss of both feet when his father accidentally backed over him with a riding lawn mower. The boy reportedly lost the foot on one leg and the other leg was severed below the knee.

The boy was discharged on May 18 from Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, a hospital spokeswoman said. Further information on his condition is not being released, she said.

Then on May 12, a 34-year-old town of Wayne woman was operating a riding lawnmower cutting grass near a concrete retaining wall when the mower’s wheels drifted off the edge of the wall and the woman and mower fell about four feet. While overturning, the cutting blades nearly severed the victim’s left foot near the ankle.

She lost four toes and had an open fracture of the ankle, according to a hospital spokesman, and remains in Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa for further reconstructive surgery.

In the latter accident, the riding mower’s seat safety switch, which turns off the engine if the rider gets off or is thrown off, had been modified to keep the mower operating, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

The Sheriff’s Department has issued a statement urging people who use powered lawn mowers to follow all safety recommendations from the machines’ manufacturers and limit the presence of small children from areas being mowed to avoid further tragedies.

No charges have been issues in any of the accidents.

This story appeared in the West Bend Daily News on May 20, 2004.
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http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2004/May_04/05202004_07.asp
 
I think the images with the report need to be seen tog et the full oddness of this - I have attached the main image which gives the idea.

Suspects Caught After Wreck Damages Vehicles And Garage

Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Paige Adams
Photographed by: 9News
5/20/04 10:48:36 AM

Two people are under arrest after a crash that landed them and their car eight feet in the air.

Cincinnati Police said a driver was speeding down Reading Road, near Dorchester, Thursday morning when he lost control and crashed into a parking garage.

The force of the crash was so great that the car launched over three others, wedging it into the garage ceiling.

It took just seconds for the owner of a Jeep to find her vehicle destroyed, but the suspects were already gone.

Police chased the suspects on foot, and they were eventually caught and arrested. No names have been released.

No one was hurt.
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http://www.wcpo.com/news/2004/local/05/20/wreck.html

Emps
 
Last Update: Monday, May 31, 2004. 7:09pm (AEST)

Plane falls on man

A man has escaped serious injury after the nose of an aircraft collapsed on him this afternoon at Melbourne's Essendon Airport.

The engineer, aged in his 40s, is recovering in hospital.

Essendon Airport general manager Tim Anderson says he is amazed the man survived as the machinery weighs about four tonnes.

"I don't know the individual but he seems to be pretty tough because he got up at the time and wanted to keep working but his work mates at the time encouraged him to call an ambulance," he said.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1119940.htm
 
This must have been awful for the poor child.


Toddler bitten by piranha in pond

A toddler has had surgery after being bitten by a piranha during a visit to a butterfly farm in Edinburgh.

The 18-month-old girl was pulled away from the water with the fish still attached.

She has now had plastic surgery to a finger and Midlothian Council said it was carrying out an investigation.

The girl was visiting Edinburgh's Butterfly World with her mother when the incident happened, after it is thought she dangled her hand in a pond.

After the toddler was bitten, she was rescued with the fish still attached to her finger.

The commotion attracted other fish, some of which landed on the ground outside the water.

The owners of Butterfly World said a species of piranha had been kept at the site for 18 years.

They said the child may not have been supervised at the time of the attack but they are carrying out an investigation into what happened.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3797823.stm
 
Car Damaged by Flying Portable Toilet

Wed Jun 9, 4:56 PM ET

HAMBURG, Germany - A woman's car was badly damaged Wednesday when a portable toilet was whisked into the air in a storm and flung down on the hood of her car, police said.

The accident happened as the woman was driving toward downtown Hamburg, police spokesman Ralf Kunz said. The woman was not hurt, but the toilet caused damage estimated at ,000.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...ap/20040609/ap_on_re_eu/germany_flying_toilet
 
Woman Trying to Kill Squirrel Shoots Self


Posted: June 16, 2004 at 9:14 p.m.

LAPORTE, IN (AP) -- A 78-year-old woman tired of squirrels raiding her bird feeder got out her shotgun to kill the critter, but instead accidentally shot and injured herself.

Alberta Jones loaded her 16-gauge shotgun Sunday and carried it with the barrel pointed down to the back door to take aim, police said. The gun accidentally discharged, police said, and shotgun pellets ricocheted off the floor.

Both of her legs were struck by the pellets, and one in her knee required surgery Tuesday to remove.

Her hospital condition was not available Tuesday evening.

"I've tried everything to shag them away, and they keep coming back," Jones said of the squirrels after the incident.

Conservation officer Jerry Shepherd with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said it is not squirrel season, and that hunting game out of season is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum 60 days in jail and up to a 0 fine. Authorities are not pressing charges.

Jones vowed to keep shooting at squirrels and using firecrackers -- as she has done several times before -- to discourage them from getting into her bird feeder. She also shoots groundhogs and other animals she considers a nuisance.

"My neighbors call me Annie Oakley," she said.
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http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1948280

A good story in its won right but how do you shag squirels away? Indulge in noisy sex in the back garden? Hide your nuts?

Emps
 
Here's Something That Doesn't Happen Every Day...

Fri Jun 25, 7:47 AM ET


HOUSTON (Reuters) - An exploding vending machine turned the coolant freon into phosgene, a poisonous gas used as a chemical weapon in World War One, and forced the evacuation of 10 people from a Texas hospital, officials said on Thursday.


A food service employee was working on the refrigerated soft drink machine at the Park Place Medical Center in Port Arthur, Texas, when a small explosion and fire occurred inside it on Wednesday morning, Port Arthur Fire Marshal Mark Mulliner said.

"When freon gas from the cooling system came into contact with the heat from the fire, it changed composition to a phosgene gas," Mulliner said.

Phosgene irritates the lungs, eyes, mouth and nose and, in strong enough concentrations, causes fatal amounts of fluid to build up in the lungs.

Ten people on the third floor of the hospital were evacuated for several hours while the area was ventilated, said Heather Ross of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Two firefighters were kept in the hospital overnight for observation, Ross said.

"We were fortunate one of our officers who was first on the scene had some familiarity with phosgene and quickly evacuated the area," Mulliner said.

Ross said state Homeland Security officials had to be notified of the incident because of phosphene's possible use as a chemical weapon.

Mulliner said the incident appeared to be a "freak accident."

"I've been here 27 years and I've never seen anything like this," he said.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...=757&e=2&u=/nm/20040625/od_nm/odd_phosgene_dc
 
Parking lot mishap leaves car in Marlborough home

July 5, 2004

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- The bang Scott Penney heard at a Fourth of July cookout wasn't fireworks; it was the sound of a car crashing through the roof of his home.

Penney was preparing to host a backyard barbecue when a beige 1992 Ford Taurus drove off an elevated parking lot and crashed into his home's roof, which was about the same level as the lot.

Penney, a downstairs tenant in the home, heard the noise from the accident but didn't see what had happened until he went around the two-family house.

"Then I saw the car in the middle of my roof," Penney told the MetroWest Daily News of Framingham.

The car came to rest with its hood sticking out the roof. The vehicle came to rest on a supporting wall and did not fall into the home's living area.

Arriving firefighters climbed a ladder and helped the car's driver get out. No one was injured. Penney's girlfriend had been inside at the time, and the upstairs tenants had been away.

The driver, Shirley Elder, is in her 70s and had been alone at the time of the accident. She refused medical treatment.

"The (driver) had parked her car across the street, cut her wheel, backed up and stepped on the gas," said Jeremy Cardin, a nearby resident who witnessed the accident. "It was just like a catcher's mitt as she hit the roof. She went right between two parked cars and there wasn't even a scratch on them."

"She thought she had her foot on the brake and hit the gas," police Officer David Garceau said. "The car quickly accelerated, went into a 180-degree turn, launched over the wall and backed into the house."

While emergency personnel were still at the scene, friends began to arrive for Penney's barbecue.

"I told you there would be fireworks," he told his guests.
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...ng_lot_mishap_leaves_car_in_marlborough_home/
 
Windsurfer's tree landing.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Gusts of wind propelled a German windsurfer from a Baltic Sea beach into a tree and -- after he climbed down -- 10 metres further into a parked car, police say.


The 25 year-old had just finished riding the waves and was still attached to his board by the security strap when a gust of wind caught his sail and blew him into the tree.


When a bystander helped the man down from the tree a second gust carried the windsurfer straight into the nearby parked car.


Police in the eastern German town of Schwerin said on Wednesday the man was now recovering from slight injuries.
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Posted on Wed, Jul. 14, 2004


Smoker Ignites Portable Toilet Explosion

Associated Press



BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. - Warning: smoking in the toilet can be dangerous. A portable toilet exploded Tuesday after a man who was inside it lit a cigarette.

Emergency workers said the man was not severely injured and drove himself to Clay-Battelle Community Health Center. He was later transferred to Ruby Memorial Hospital. His name and condition were not available Wednesday.

The explosion, which occurred in Blacksville, resulted from a buildup of methane gas inside the portable toilet. The methane did not "take too kindly" to the lit cigarette, said a spokeswoman for Monongalia Emergency Medical Services.

---

Information from: The Dominion Post, http://www.dominionpost.com
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/9153302.htm?1c
 
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