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Darwin Awards
2009 Slush Pile

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

Evolution Meets Intelligent Design

2009 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

A youth group outing ended tragically Tuesday on a remote northeastern Oregon road near Hells Canyon when a pickup plunged over a 350-foot embankment, killing the driver and injuring at least six others, most and possibly all of them teens.

Jeffery Alan Gaertner, 38, a Baptist youth pastor from Jackson Hole, Wyo., was driving a club-cab pickup on an apparent church-affiliated outing, Wallowa County Sheriff Fred Steen said.

The accident occurred on a notoriously steep, narrow gravel track linking the town of Imnaha with Dug Bar on the Snake River in Hells Canyon. Gaerter was leading a convoy of three vehicles when he unexpectedly swung the pickup off the gravel road onto a shortcut between steep switchbacks. In seconds, the Ford's tires were spinning.

"It was really steep and muddy," said passenger Forrest Cox, 15. "The truck kind of slowed down, and it started to slide backwards." The Ford crashed back onto the gravel road in a cascade of rocks. But Gaertner turned too late, and the left side tires slipped over the edge of the ravine.

"Then we just rolled all the way down the mountain," Cox said. "I remember windows smashing and Glass flying everywhere."

The crash site is too remote for cell phones, so someone drove six miles to the nearest house for help. It took nearly a hour for Sheriff Steen, 55 miles away in Enterprise, to arrive. He was horrified at what he saw.

"The only thing that slowed that pickup down was hitting the bottom of the ravine," Steen said. Passengers lay near where they'd landed, some screaming and suffering multiple open fractures. Gaertner lay dead.

All of Gaertner's teen passengers are expected to recover. Cox talked about the ordeal Friday from his hospital bed, after he underwent surgery Wednesday to have his right femur set and a metal rod inserted. He said he felt God's presence during the ordeal.

"Even though it was a horrific time, I know it happened for a purpose," he said, "and some good is going to come out of this."

Like a healthier gene pool, for instance. And perhaps a nice award, as well.

Submitted on 04/06/2009

Submitted by: Don Scharff
Reference: The Oregonian, Friday, April 03, 2009

Copyright © 2009 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Bystanders Hurt
Thanks, Don, but none of the passengers are to blame for this accident so their injuries are an automatic toss. Also the passenger quoted in the article was only 15, and our maturity cutoff is 16 so that's another reason we can't accept this.


James said:
Definitely Toss: Other
1) NOT amusing. This was a youth group trip, not a frat boy outing. 2) Bystanders (and lots of them) hurt. 3) One of the victims is below our age cutoff. 4) WHERE is the stupidity??? This was an accident. Thanks, Don, but alas this one has a lot going against it!


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