These stories should be easily confirmed by appeal to either CBC radio at St. John's, NL or to The Evening Telegram, also at St. John's. Both happened about 20 years ago.

1. A young adventurous couple from Ontario, having the absolute latest in hiking and survival equipment, were dropped off by helicopter on a remote beach on the northern Labrador coast in early spring. They were going to hike across the northern Torngat Mountains and arrive at Kangiqsualujjuaq (George River) in northern Quebec by early autumn. They did not arrive. The worried parents paid for a rescue operation. A helicoptor was dispatched to the beginning point. All of that expensive state-of-the art equipment was on the shore where it had been deposited in the spring. After a quick search, the bodies were located mere hundreds of meters from their equipment stash.

It appears that, in their youthful enthusiasm, they could not wait to challenge the mountains. They lost. By one estimate, they were probably dead within hours of arriving. 2. A group of German (?) tourists were driving north along Newfoundland Island's west coast enroute to the Viking site at Lance Aux Meadows at the tip of the island. It appears that someone got the bright idea to take a little side-trip and to walk across the narrow peninsula to one of the villages on the other side, their map apparently not indicating either what lay between them nor that the villages on the other side no longer existed, except maybe as a summer retreat for a week or so. There is no indication that this party every arrived at the other side. In any case, none of the party was ever seen again. Their vehicle was left parked on the side of the highway. There was no suggestion of foul play. Incidentally, within a couple of hundred meters from the highway, one soon finds oneself, should one be fool-hardy enough to venture there, in treacherous bogs, impenetrable boreal jungle and unbelievable torturous mountains.

Only the most experienced mountaineers and hikers would even consider attempting the trek.

The third story may not have been in the papers. However, the editor of The Lewisporte Pilot, Lewisporte, NL , should be able to come up with someone who can confirm.

The incident occurred when I lived at Lewisporte.

This incident happened at Birchy Bay, a small village just south of the small town of Lewisporte (Population about 3000) on Newfoundland's north east coast.

A gentleman wanted to do some roof repairs on his house. Being very cautious, he tied a safety rope to himself to do some work on the far side of the roof. But what could he tie the other end to?

Then, inspiration! He tied the other end to the back of his pickup truck, parked in his driveway, at the front of the house.

He was happily – and, no doubt, very cautiously, doing his roof repairs .... when his wife decided that she needed to pop down to the nearby convenience store.

Need one say more?

The rope was sturdy. The man was dragged over the peak of the roof, down the other side, 10 feet to the ground, and out the driveway. At some point the wife stopped the truck, maybe seeing the unanticipated cargo at the end of the rope?

The man spent some time in hospital. Whether he is still alive or able to contribute to the gene pool, I cannot say.

Submitted on 10/05/2013

Submitted by: Dr. Ronald Ryan
Reference: Personal recollection

Copyright © 2013 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Thanks, Ronald, but the first two stories leave a LOT to the imagination which really doesn't qualify for a DA. For example, in the first story we don't know if the hikers died by trying to hand feed a bear that they stumbled across or if a tree simply fell on them in a freak accident. And the third story is an iteration of a well known urban legend that's been making the rounds since at least the 1960's according to Snopes. In fact Snopes also reports that it was actually used on a fictional TV show back in 1976: http://www.snopes.com/autos/mishaps/roofman.asp

Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
What Bruce said. And I've read the third story written in a book in the 1960s.

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