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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!

Good intentions BAD Idea

2011 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

As the cold, heavy snow pelted a disbelieving city last Saturday, a landscaping crew — thoroughly chilled after hours spent working outside a church in the Bronx — loaded their equipment into two trucks and headed back to Queens, ready to call it an early day.

In the back of one, surrounded by the tools of the trade, Jorge Perez and his cousin struggled to get warm. One of them fired up a lawn mower, hoping the engine might double as a hearth.

“He turned it on, because he wanted to stay warm,” said Anibal Angel, the owner of the landscaping company.

The improvised attempt for warmth would turn out to be fatal. Mr. Perez, 21, would soon be found dead inside the truck, with his cousin critically injured; detectives in the 103rd Precinct in Queens believe that the culprit was carbon monoxide poisoning, the police said.

“It’s an unbelievable and a horrible thing,” said Mr. Angel, who was driving the second truck. “He turned the machine on and got killed by the carbon.”

The accident occurred Saturday, and for a while, Mr. Angel and some of the other crew members riding in the front had no idea what was happening to Mr. Perez and his cousin.

They did not know until they reached their destination, an apartment building on 148th Street in Jamaica, Queens, where Mr. Angel’s brother lived. Then, one of the gardeners came to the back of the truck, to see why Mr. Perez and his cousin had not emerged, Mr. Angel said.

He found the two men seated in the same position as they always were. The lawn mower was still running, Mr. Angel said, until someone turned it off.

“We all come from Guatemala, the same village, and try to make it in America,” Mr. Angel said. “We never believe this happens.”

An ambulance rushed Mr. Perez and his cousin to Jamaica Hospital. Mr. Perez died; his younger cousin, identified by friends as Isias Ramirez, remains in critical condition.

Mr. Perez had come to New York about three years ago.

“Jorge was a quiet kid,” Mr. Angel said. “You don’t have a big conversation with him, but I teach him how to work; and how to do the things.”

On Wednesday, a dozen friends of his gathered at a funeral home, Funeraria La Fe, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to pay their respects. Several women carried bouquets of yellow flowers.

They spoke not only of Mr. Perez, but also of Mr. Ramirez, who they said was recovering but had not been told of his cousin’s death. Mr. Angel said Mr. Ramirez told visitors that Mr. Perez started the lawn mower.

Mr. Perez’s body was to be flown to Guatemala on Thursday.

Link to actual Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/nyregion/landscape-worker-dies-while-using-lawn-mower-for-warmth-in-truck.html?src=me&ref=nyregion

Submitted on 11/03/2011

Submitted by: Jeff Wilson
Reference: New York Times October , 2011

Copyright © 2011 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
Thanks, Jeff, but we get tons of stories involving carbon monoxide poisoning. The only thing that's unique here are the circumstances, but I don't think that's enough for an award. After all, we've received stories like people carrying a lit BBQ grill into an elevator (because it started raining outside) and succumbing to CO as a result. To me this story is just too similar to all the ones we get about people trying to keep warm or run electric generators when the power goes out. Thanks just the same.


James said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
As Bruce said!


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