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This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Student Catapult Death

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

student was killed in a bizarre stunt after he was hurled more than 30m through the air by a human catapult, an inquest today heard.

Oxford University student Kostydin Yankov, 19, suffered multiple injuries when he missed a safety net after being flung from a medieval-style trebuchet catapult.

Mr Yankov, a biochemistry undergraduate known as Dino, was part of the university extreme sports club - the Oxford Stunt Factory - who had visited the trebuchet site in Middlemoor Water Park near Bridgwater, Somerset, in November 2002.

Inquest told of student catapult death

Press Association Monday October 31, 2005

A student was killed in a bizarre stunt after he was hurled more than 30m through the air by a human catapult, an inquest today heard.

Oxford University student Kostydin Yankov, 19, suffered multiple injuries when he missed a safety net after being flung from a medieval-style trebuchet catapult.

Mr Yankov, a biochemistry undergraduate known as Dino, was part of the university extreme sports club - the Oxford Stunt Factory - who had visited the trebuchet site in Middlemoor Water Park near Bridgwater, Somerset, in November 2002.

Article continues

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Mr Yankov, from Bulgaria, had been one of five members from the Oxford Stunt Factory to use the £40 per launch trebuchet on November 24.

The inquest in Taunton, Somerset, heard how the trebuchet was a medieval siege weapon favoured by the Romans, but had been used to fire plague-ridden corpses and other missiles over castle ramparts.

Catapult designers Richard Wicks, 33, from Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, and David Aitkenhead, 46, of Fiddington near Bridgwater, had made a modern-day trebuchet that would fire human "shots" instead of missiles.

Mr Wicks' partner, Stella Young, told the court how she had broken her pelvis after using a prototype of the trebuchet in May 2000.

The human resources manager had gone to work alongside Mr Wicks and Mr Aitkenhead on the contraption and had been responsible for weighing Mr Yankov before the jump and warning him of its dangers.

She said: "I hit the net, bounced in and bounced out, breaking my pelvis in three places. I would tell jumpers what had happened to me and how lucky I was. It is a very, very dangerous thing to do."

Describing Mr Yankov's jump, [a spectator] said: "At some stage I saw Dino as a ball in the air. He then missed the safety net, but I couldn't say by how much.

"As he hit the ground I heard a thud and then a second thud."

Paramedics rushed to the scene and Mr Yankov was taken to Bristol's Frenchay hospital where he later died.

Mr Nelkin said that after the accident he had asked himself whether the removal of some weights had affected the flight, causing Mr Yankov to fall short.

Mr Capsey, who had undertook the first jump of the day, also helped out on the trebuchet.

Explaining the safety procedure to the jury, he said that each jumper was initially weighed and placed into a weight category. The jumper was then weighed again while wearing safety equipment.

The weights on the trebuchet are then changed to match the weight of the jumper and a test weight that corresponds to the jumper's weight is then fired to check for any problems. He said all safety checks were taken prior to Mr Yankov's jump.

Last year, Mr Wicks and Mr Aitkenhead were acquitted of Mr Yankov's manslaughter after the trial collapsed at Bristol crown court.

Submitted on 01/31/2006

Submitted by: Jeff Kalwerisky
Reference: Guardian (UK): Oct 31, 2005

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks, Jeff, but we got this one when it first came out. Don't forget to do a thorough search of our archives before submitting in the future! :-)


Jack said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
A good story. In fact, we got this one several times when it originally happened. If you'd like to see our final determination, then please do a search using the young man's name. Thanks.


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