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Darwin Awards
2000 Darwin Awards
Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it. Next
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Email a Friend Elevator Wedgie  
2000 Darwin Award Nominee
Unconfirmed by Darwin

(5 June 2000, Australia) A 23-year-old man who dropped his keys down a lift shaft was killed when he tried to retrieve them. The man was entering a lift with two work mates when he accidentally dropped his key ring. He asked his mates to hold the lift while he climbed out to retrieve it. He exited via the ceiling trapdoor, and was scrambling down the side of the lift when an adjacent car began to move. It wedged him so firmly against the lift wall that it took police rescuers 3 hours to extract the crushed man, and additional two minutes to retrieve his keys.

DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2009
Submitted by: Craig Bingham
Reference: Daily Telegraph, Sydney Australia

A reader cautioned, "While elevator ceiling trapdoors are common in movies, they don't actually exist. Don't believe me? Go to serveral different buildings, get in the elevator, and look up. You won't find a door."

After hearing this, readers searched their own elevators and told me that the majority do have obvious escape hatches. And while opening the door usually triggers a safety shutdown on the car, it is unlikely to operate on the adjacent cars. on the The technical aspects of this story are valid.

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The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

Darwin Awards III: Survival of the Fittest

Hardback. 304 pages. Autographed.
$15
The human race's most popular humor series returns with a brand-new collection of macabre mishaps and misadventures. Honoring those who improve our gene pool by inadvertently removing themselves from it, the Darwin Awards III shows once more how uncommon common sense still is.

Salute the sheriff who inadvertently shot himself--twice! Witness the insurance defrauder who amputated his leg with a chainsaw! Heed the story of the farmer who avoided bee stings by sealing his head in a plastic bag! Cringe at the man crushed by a branch he'd just severed... directly over his head!

123 new stories, 18 full-page illustrations, plus discussions of transgenic animals, the origin of life, and more.

Autographed by Author!

 


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