Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
At-Risk Survivors
Slush Pile
2008 October Rejects
Comment on Dr. Charles Bizilj
Guess He Lost His Happy Thought
Drysuit Diver
Disabled woman perishes in house fi
Tollbooth dummy
Shooting Himself with a crossbow
Baby dies after pram rolls in river
Coroner ID's bike-riding robber kil
Fatal Crash Shuts Down Bay Area Com
Getting back a the neighbor
Girl drowned in Canal
Suspect Accidentally Kills Himself
Iraqi Wedding
No very slow lane available
gas, teenagers and a shack
Boy kills self with Uzi at gun show
Stupid Cyclist
Tiger close-up
Man's arm trapped in train toilet
Blowing-up the Hell's Angels Bunker
UK police arrest naked burglary sus
When Seat Belts Kill
Stupid school project
Thief Screws Himself
Father Allows son to Fire Uzi
icon Comments Recommend HPD: Tee
boy shoots himself
Man drives into Lake
Uzi your daddy
New Reason for Gun Control.
Air rifle vs Police Assault Rifle
Students Trucked Away...
Man's arm stuck in train toilet
winemakers die treading grapes
Woman Killed Riding Moped on I-85
Boy fatally shoots self in Mass. gu
Too young for the NRA
Brookings man killed in fireworks
Boy Accident Kills self With UZ
8yr Old shoots himself
Fatal Uzi Wounds at Gun Show
Woman dies after jumping train barr
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Nati
Hot head
Man pulls over undercover cops
More info on Eating Contest "Winner
Spokane man accidentally shoots sel
swordesmanship roadrage
man eats too fast and dies for $60
Sodus teen killed during home invas
Youths of today
Two one eighties at once
Stay In School
Playing with fire
A Tight Squeeze
Eating contest
Badger Mountain Blues
Python Looking for new Owner/Keeper
Iraqi Wedding
Cheap X-Ray
"Hey, watch this" in Arab, Alabama
Guns and Phones don't mix
B.C. man shoots himself with crossb
the A12
The Bride To Be!
A12
a12
Standing in front of a gun is just
TV (and Propane) Can Kill You!
B.C. man shoots self with crossbow
B.C. man shoots self with crossbow
BC Man Shoots Self in Head
Father teaches Son Firearm Safety
Man shoots self with crossbow
Man Bit by Pet Cobra
Real Cop pulled over by Fake Cop
WIlliam Tell Shoots Self
Mr. Smart attempts suicisde on 20ft
Voltage from the height
The No Longer Laughing Cavalier
Inmate hit pot inside stomach
Give a handgun to a 2-year old...
Jaywalking Obstacle Course
World kissing day a-la Russe
Keeping Warm Proves Deadly
A dummy, a gun and a wedding
Children do the darndest things.
73-year-old killed in hunting accid
Man badly injured while mooning car
Flamming BBQ
Car surfing man badly hurt mooning
Man learns the hard way drinking, s
Fuzzmooning carsurfer
man dies because he refused help
Diet Coke and Mentos, Near Death
Dalton Blast Work of Bad Bomber
Personal Account - Nearly run down
sliding down a bridge
Fast -- Too Fast -- Escape
Toms River man, 69, run over by dum
No match for a gas tank
Eager for a Darwin Award
Welder Oils Flight
Mom takes daughter to fight
Sword Wielding idiot meets tar
Road Rage Swordsmanship
Sword attack 'so unnecessary'
Sword-wielding motorist killed on t
4 die in motel CO inhalation
Kids love toys
Dead Stupid
Gruesome end for road rage man
Sword-wielding maniac
Man dies in Quebec cemetery after t
Swords and Road Rage
DWI dead of Law & Order Politician
Sword-wielding motorist killed on t
Sword-wielding motorist killed on t
Sword-wielding motorist killed
Welland man dies in storm sewer
Mans car runs him over
Man Dies Repairing Grave
Dont drink and swim
final solution
ipeac abortion
Digging your own grave
Railway Sex Couple
Harlem athlete, 19, plunges to deat
Harlem athlete, 19, plunges to deat
Just dumb
Egg Thower Falls Off Roof
Austrian Governor drives to hell
Teen dies after rooftop 'fall'
Tombstone kills man
Teen trys to jump roof to roof.
Bum Rap
Man Falls Off Bridge
Bridge slide
Bridge Slide of Death
Man Dies Jumping On Cars On I-880
Man Dies Jumping On Cars
Family fears man drowned in Missour
Air Mattress Explosion
Train top photography
Dumb robber
Bridge Slider
Most stupid european politician
Exploding.... cheese?
He hit the trifecta!
Didn't Know It Would Happen
BME Pain Olympics
Thug Spray
Man killed by a big rig ghost?
Personal Account - Rifle error
One Hot Potatoe...
A little more Light
Woman shoot by stove
Motorist Drowns on Flooded Rd
The Car Shoots Back!
Industrial Blast Kills Man
Will he or won't he?
DECAPITATED BY BATMAN!
Texting Train Engineer Runs Red Lig
Road Rage Gone Bad
Pipe Bomb Sir?
Used Oil+Welding Torch= Big Boom
Got a Match?
Secret Agent Man
Idiot Skateboarder out of the Gene
Couple Have Sex On African Train Tr
Couple Have Sex On African Train Tr
Two Personal Accounts
Rental Car Flambee
Woman in fatal freezer fall likely
Frustrated Boyfriend
Heads of My House
Autopsy shows N.C. water fall death
Darwin no Jutsu!
Gun expert shot in hand sues PSNI
frozen
Car falls on man, kills him in city
oops
Woman Falls Into Active Volcano, Di
Death trap on wheels
Youths tell of fatal LPG car explos
Fight during driving
hurricane Ike
Future Darwin Starting Early
man checks gas tank with match
Chimneys obey gravity
Man gets burned while using lighter
Breast is Best
friday night lights
The Dog and the Rabbit
Man Crushed By Car In Salvage Yard
Car falls on man, kills him in city
Boy eaten by crocodiles
ManBurnedw/LighterWhileSiphoningGas
Didn't pay the bill - and died
Death trap on wheels
tractor joy ride
Man Shoots Himself in Arm
Man Burned While Using Lighter To S
How much gas do I have?
Divers locate suspect after bizarre
Selbstmord mit einer Kettensäge
Oil thief
OPRY Award
Darwinian arsonist
LPG powered car
Learn the Area First
One Idiot, Two Accidents
Man burned trying to siphon gas
Cigatettes and Propane don't mix
Mo. woman dies in inflatable slide
Man burned trying to siphon gas for
Gas Thief
Women dice with death
Older Rejects 
 
~ Random Story ~
Email Alert!
NEW! Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

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

Didn't pay the bill - and died

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An energy company's decision to cut off electricity to a New Zealand woman's home because of an unpaid bill contributed to her death from morbid obesity, a coroner's court ruled Tuesday.

Folole Muliaga, 44, a nursery school teacher, died two hours after the oxygen machine she used to help her breathe shut down when the government-owned utility Mercury Energy cut power to her home.

Muliaga's death on May 29, 2007, outraged New Zealanders, with Prime Minister Helen Clark denouncing the company's actions as heartless and intolerable.

Coroner Gordon Matenga said he agreed with two of four medical experts who presented evidence to the hearing that cutting the power had contributed to Muliaga's death.

"The cessation of oxygen therapy and the stress arising from the fact of the disconnection (as opposed to the way in which the power was disconnected) have contributed to her death," he said in his ruling.

Matenga also noted that Mercury Energy acknowledged it hadn't complied with Electricity Commission guidelines for identifying vulnerable customers at the time of Muliaga's death.

Muliaga family spokesman Brenden Sheehan said the family would instruct its lawyers "to explore all legal avenues" for compensation following the findings.

"The coroner established there was a cause and effect over her death, and that Mercury Energy didn't follow the guidelines of the Electricity Commission," Sheehan said.

Sheehan said he hoped the family and the agencies involved could reach an out-of-court agreement.

Olinda Woodroffe, lawyer for Muliaga's husband, said she was confident there were strong legal grounds for compensation.

A police investigation last year found no grounds for criminal charges against the utility.

Coroners in New Zealand can order inquests into unusual deaths to assess the circumstances so they can make recommendations to prevent future occurrences. The inquest does not assign blame.

At the time of Muliaga's death, the family believed it owed Mercury Energy 34.44 New Zealand dollars (US$26.67); the company later put the amount at NZ$168 (US$130.12).

************************************ Story Two: CBS news; May 30, 2007

A 44-year-old woman who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home because of a $122 unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.

Police said they had launched an investigation into Folole Muliaga's death, which happened within two hours after state-owned company Mercury Energy cut power to her house Tuesday.

Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened.

Muliaga, a schoolteacher with four children between the ages of 5 and 20, had been off work since February with an illness and had fallen behind in her payments to Mercury, said Brenden Sheehan, a relative who provided a copy of the bill.

Six days before a Mercury Energy representative arrived Tuesday at the house to disconnect the electricity, she was $122 in arrears.

Brenden Sheehan, the woman's nephew in-law, said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it. (Sounds like they waited until the last second to tell them she was on oxygen.)

Muliaga's son, Letitaia, said the technician told them he was "doing his job, he's here to cut the power off."

Sheehan described Mercury Energy's actions as "reprehensible."

"It's absolutely disgusting what they've done," he said.

Muliaga began having difficulty breathing, became faint and then collapsed, he said. Paramedics were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead within two hours of the power being cut.

Moulder expressed his "deep condolences" to the family, and said the company was checking reports that it had been warned Muliaga needed power for the oxygen machine.

"We were simply unaware that loss of electricity to the household was putting a vulnerable customer at risk," he said.

"More than one" disconnection notice had been sent to Muliaga's address over a six- to seven-week period, he added.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard said there were reports the family had been warned about the overdue account.

Submitted on 10/03/2008

Submitted by: Julie Bivans
Reference: September 23, 2008; Assosiated Press

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
I find it hard to pin sole blame for this tragedy on the woman. It was a failure of all the family members, the electric company and the technician who ultimately showed up to disconnect the power. Thanks just the same, Julie.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
What Bruce said. The only way to attach fault to the woman is allowing herself to get that heavy, AND WE DON'T KNOW IF HER WEIGHT WAS THE RESULT OF A MEDICAL CONDITION IN AND OF ITSELF!


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards Condom

Keep yourself out of the gene pool!
A condom in a matchbook, useful for emergency contraception, bachelor parties, frat parties, and important rites of passage. LOADED inside and out with funny quotes and stories. Everyone loves this item!
Friends don't let friends reproduce!
$13 for Pack of 4

 

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend