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Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

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

Always read the sign

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=17410598%26method=full%26siteid=50060%26headline=friend%2dtells%2dinquest%2dhow%2ddrinker%2ds%2dbet%2dcost%2dhis%2dlife-name_page.html :-

Friend tells inquest how drinker's bet cost his life

Jul 19 2006

By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A MAN who drank 15 pints of lager drowned after betting his friend he could swim in the sea.

An inquest heard yesterday that father-of-three Darren Valvona, 32, of Paddock, told Sol Nicolaou: "I bet I could swim in it".

He then went into the rough water at Blackpool. Holding a metal chain attached to a "Danger: Do not enter" sign, he went into the shallows but seconds later was hit by a wave that swept him out.

Mr Nicolaou, 33, desperately tried to drag his friend on to steps leading down to the sea where they had earlier been sitting, but another wave crashed against them and took the victim out to sea, the inquest at Blackpool was told.

Mr Nicolaou, also from Huddersfield, said he and his friend had arrived in the resort at about midday on Friday, March 31, and started drinking at 3.15pm before going for a night out.

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Mr Valvona's girlfriend Melissa Fieldhouse- the mother of his son, Joseph, eight - told the inquest he rang her at 1.15am and they had a "lovely conversation" saying he would be back home the next day.

She was later woken by police officers asking her to identify his body.

Darren lived on Heaton Road with Melissa, Joseph, and Melissa's three children, Kriston, 16, Arron, 14, and 12-year-old Bethany. Darren also left two daughters - 12-year-old Nicole and seven-year-old Chloe - from a previous relationship with 29-year-old Amanda Jackson, who lives in Halifax.

Darren and Amanda lost a daughter, Levi, to meningitis 10 years ago when she was aged just 11 weeks.

Mr Nicolaou, the manager of the Head of Steam bar in Huddersfield, said they had left a pub at about 2.15am after Mr Valvona had drunk about 15 pints of Carling lager.

Mr Valvona went to sit on steps leading down to the sea, stepping over the "Keep out" sign chained across the entrance.

The weather was windy and the sea rough, but he told his friend: "I like nature", and both sat listening to the sea, the inquest heard. Mr Valvona then said to his friend: "I bet I could swim in it", to which he replied: "No, you couldn't. Nobody could."

Mr Nicolaou got up to leave, expecting his friend to follow, but when he turned around a large wave engulfed Mr Valvona, dragging him off the steps and into the water as he clung on to the chain.

Mr Nicolaou tried to drag him back on to the steps but was buffeted by more waves crashing against the shore.

Mr Nicolaou told the inquest: "He shouted: `You go. Don't worry, I will be all right.' He eventually lost his grip on the chain and waves pulled him away from the land. I lost sight of him."

Passer-by Dale Vine, returning to his hotel, told the inquest he spotted the victim at the water's edge, saying to friends: "Look at that idiot!"

He threw two rings into the water and called the emergency services, and a search by police and the coastguards was launched.

Mr Valvona's body was found washed up on the beach after the tide went out the next morning.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Christopher Beverley, deputy coroner for Blackpool and Fylde, said: "Perhaps his courage got the better of him and he thought he could do more than he could against the forces of nature.

"That must be a lesson to all who come to visit us in Blackpool."

* Mr Valvona is one of six young men to have drowned in the sea off Blackpool in the last year. Barry Bryce, 23, and Scott Hunter, 33, drowned during a stag weekend on May 27, almost a year to the day after best friends Alex Yorke, 15, and Oliver Harvey, 16, drowned at Gynn Square. Anthony Murphy, 19, from Manchester, was found on Bispham beach on August 27 last year after going for a midnight walk.

Submitted on 07/19/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Huddersfield Examiner, 7/19/06

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
Thanks for taking the time to submit. needless to say, this incident seems to me one part alcohol and one part accident (the wave crashed into the victim). Also given the fact that five others drowned at the same spot, I'm inclined to write this off as too common. My guess is that he eventually passed out before he drowned.


Fitzroy said:
Maybe Toss: Lacks Excellence
This one isn't too far from what I would consider a viable candidate. However, the history of drownings at that spot plus other particulars of the incident make me question the level of excellence and level of self-selection involved. Even so, the contribution is appreciated.


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