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Darwin Awards
2011 Slush Pile

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

Shouldn't have stopped quitting

2011 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

A promising law student drowned trying to swim across the Thames when a drinking spree to celebrate being on the wagon for a month ended in tragedy, an inquest heard today.

Niall Pawsey, 20, had drunk a near lethal cocktail of beer, Jaegermeister and sambuca before he was kicked out of the Kingston Mill for singing football songs and attempted the river swim.

But the Kingston University student, who was four and a half times the drink/drive limit, was only 10 feet from the other side when he stopped swimming and sank beneath the surface.

Coroner Alison Thompson, ruling Mr Pawsey died of misadventure, said: "Alcohol clearly clouded his judgment and made him to a degree reckless. The alcohol was almost at a level that could have caused his death on its own. This was a risky undertaking by a man in high spirits enjoying himself and it was a very high price to pay."

Friend Daniel Bellows, who has dropped out of the law degree they were studying for, told the inquest Mr Pawsey was celebrating on April 27 after winning a bet to stop drinking for a month.

After leaving the Kingston Mill, they were walking and joking. "The conversation came up about a joke we made years ago about swimming to the other side," Mr Bellows said.

"Niall pretty much went 'Watch this' and started taking his clothes off and chucking them everywhere then dived head first into the river."

Mr Pawsey seemed to be making good progress but his friends lost sight of him behind a boat and never saw him again.

Rowing instructor Andrew Beard saw Mr Pawsey attempting to cross and went to make sure he was OK. Fighting back tears, he told West London coroner's court: "He had nearly made it. Suddenly he stopped swimming and I threw him the torpedo buoy but he didn't see it or he didn't make any effort to grab it. I jumped into the river. There won't be a day in my life when I don't wish I had jumped in five seconds earlier." The coroner commended him for his "courage and bravery".

Submitted on 10/14/2011

Submitted by: Bruce Strong
Reference: London Evening Standard, 9/9/2011

Copyright © 2011 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
Thanks, Bruce, but this sort of thing is rather commonplace. We have lots of stories in the archives of people swimming when/where they shouldn't.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
What Bruce said.


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