I laffed but I shouldn't have.

Harry Palmr

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/05/maine-firework-kills-man-head

A young man who was drinking and celebrating the Fourth of July tried to launch a firework off the top of his head, fatally injuring himself, authorities said on Sunday.

Devon Staples and his friends had been drinking and setting off fireworks on Saturday night in the backyard of a friend’s home in the small eastern Maine city of Calais, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Staples, 22, of Calais, placed a fireworks mortar tube on his head and set it off, McCausland said.

The firework exploded, killing Staples instantly.

That the paper includes as useful visual link also amused. Say what you see.

Bridge93

No sympathy really. What a moron.
Not nice he died but Jesus that's new levels of stupid.

Chancer3001

Harry Palmr wrote: »

That the paper includes as useful visual link also amused. Say what you see.

Somebody translate.

Yakult

Natural selection


It's a success!

Xaracatz

I dunno. Everybody always comes out with the Darwin Awards comments, and the what a fecking eejit comments. But, can you imagine the panic and horror when that happened? The guy is dead. Some of his friends saw it happen. His parents have lost their son. How would you feel if you saw your friend die? How would you feel if your child or your parent died - regardless of the circumstances?

I don't think it's funny.

Timberrrrrrrr

And the Darwin award goes to.....

Bridge93

Xaracatz wrote: »

I dunno. Everybody always comes out with the Darwin Awards comments, and the what a fecking eejit comments. But, can you imagine the panic and horror when that happened? The guy is dead. Some of his friends saw it happen. His parents have lost their son. How would you feel if you saw your friend die? How would you feel if your child or your parent died - regardless of the circumstances?

I don't think it's funny.

I don't think it's funny, I think he's a f***ing idiot. Obviously you feel for the family and those who have lost someone close to them (except for the friends involved, equally little sympathy for them.)

pmasterson95

"laffed"

P_1

What a tragically stupid waste of life

Xaracatz

Bridge93 wrote: »

I don't think it's funny, I think he's a f***ing idiot. Obviously you feel for the family and those who have lost someone close to them (except for the friends involved, equally little sympathy for them.)

Yeah - it was incredibly stupid. We've all been ****ing idiots, but that was a particularly stupid thing to do. My comment was more aimed towards the OP who said that they laffed, but maybe he's/she's just a troll.

I would have sympathy for the friends though. And for the guy who did it.

CFlat

Unfortunatley not the first or last person to think they are Superman with a skinfull of drink on them.

strelok

Xaracatz wrote: »

I dunno. Everybody always comes out with the Darwin Awards comments, and the what a fecking eejit comments. But, can you imagine the panic and horror when that happened? The guy is dead. Some of his friends saw it happen. His parents have lost their son. How would you feel if you saw your friend die? How would you feel if your child or your parent died - regardless of the circumstances?

I don't think it's funny.

he put an explosive on his unprotected head and set it alight

there is no way this is not hilarious.

even his parents are going to laugh themselves silly over this in a few years time

Harry Palmr

My laugh was borne of despair I should add.

Massimo Cassagrande

strelok wrote: »

he put an explosive on his unprotected head and set it alight

there is no way this is not hilarious.

even his parents are going to laugh themselves silly over this in a few years time

possibly not..

People do dumb things when drunk that they would never do when sober. It probably seemed a hugely reasonable thing to do while off your box on booze. "I know - I'll let it off on my head...."

He was just displaying youthful drunken exuberance...sadly, the clue to the outcome was in the name of the firework--"mortar..." - going out with a bang springs to mind. His parents no doubt don't see the funny side tho.

strelok

i did say in a few years time, i'm not a heartless bastard

Vomit

Sad to die so needlessly. Humans are fragile, and explosives are dangerous. Every so often, something like this will happen to remind us all not to fool around with dangerous sh*t.

the_syco

I'm glad his stupidity only harmed himself, and no others.

CFlat

Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'head banger'.

marcbrophy

He basically put a grenade on top of his head and set it off!

Words fail me!

PizzamanIRL

marcbrophy wrote: »

He basically put a grenade on top of his head and set it off!

Words fail me!

"But it's all colourful and fancy looking!"

Your Superior

strelok wrote: »

he put an explosive on his unprotected head and set it alight

there is no way this is not hilarious.

even his parents are going to laugh themselves silly over this in a few years time

What a distasteful post. I hope the same never befalls your family, as you'd clearly laugh about it.

Eugene Norman

strelok wrote: »

i did say in a few years time, i'm not a heartless bastard

Oh you are.

Poor Uncle Tom

strelok wrote: »

i did say in a few years time, i'm not a heartless bastard

No a parent either, I'd guess......

Guy:Incognito

Practice stupidity safely :-)

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=96127292&postcount=8350

Zen65

strelok wrote: »

even his parents are going to laugh themselves silly over this in a few years time

Your naivety is on a par with his stupidity, it seems.

No parent would ever see this as funny. To lose a son is unnatural, regardless of the circumstances. Those parents who lost their sons in conflicts overseas will never "see the funny side" when the conflict is over and the warring nations become allies. The parents who lose a daughter because she accidentally overdosed on ecstasy will not consider that it is funny, ever. The fact that the deceased may have contributed to their own demise through their lack of sobriety and reasoning is never funny, in fact it adds to the tragedy.

Unlike the man in the story, you will probably live to see and understand the error of your thinking. His mistake, unfortunately, denied him the chance to look back and learn from it. That's a tragedy no matter what the circumstances.

Need to know the exact type of firework before really having an opinion. Sounds like it was a repeater like a Roman candle when they say it exploded.

If so, pretty silly but very unlucky. Those things, especially the ones that don't explode seem fairly harmless until you get a faulty one that blows up.

If it was a regular firework, I don't know how it could possible happen. An actual rocket would burn his head and a banger would just kill him.

Thephantomsmask

Utterly stupid but awful for the man's family and friends and definitely not funny. I watched a documentary on tour guides in Sunny Beach a while back, one decided that it would be a great idea to stick a small firecracker up his behind while getting pissed on his birthday. He ended up in a&e with a doctor stitching flaps of skin and intestine back together, after he had gone to the nightclub, drunk more and decided the pain and laughing friends were too much to bear. Some people do really dumb things when drunk.

bnt

The article says it was a mortar: if you've ever been to a fireworks display, a mortar a kind of firework that is fired high in to the air before going off. It doesn't go "fwoosh", the first stage goes thump to launch the payload, which then goes bang once it's high up. If this guy had one of these go thump on top of his head ... :eek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8esXyW_c1o