Andy Porritt of Buffalo Ankerite Property had constructed a pipe bomb from a collection of parts laying around the Ankerite mine site, then filled the pipe with powder from shotgun shells. He sealed both ends of the pipe and created a home-made fuse with cloth and gasoline. Upon ignition the bomb exploded instantly, removing his arm below the elbow. Local agencies have collected funds to help provide a prosthetic hook as a replacement.

This was not Porritt's first amputation, as he was demonstrating to friends how he had built the pipe bomb that had taken off his left arm five years earlier. It had also been replaced with a prosthetic hook.

That incident occurred during a demonstration of how he had blown three fingers off of his left hand... building a pipe bomb two years before that.

Porritt's first amputation had occurred when he was five. His seven year old brother Dennis was chopping wood when Andy placed his hand on a log and dared Dennis to chop off one of his fingers. Dennis had complied, removing the baby finger of Andy's right hand.

This time, police have charged Porritt with creating an explosive device.

Submitted on 01/26/2005

Submitted by: Plain Ol' Joe
Reference: Writing for radio right now.

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Daniel said:
Neutral: Personal Account
I'd sure like some back up on this one, but as a PA, it's pretty amazing.

Charles said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
What raises this one to the realm of a keeper is persistence. He lost some fingers to a home-made bomb; lost an arm to another home-made bomb while showing how he lost the fingers; and lost another arm while showing how a home-made bomb lost him his first arm. This sort of persistence in stupidity really requires some recognition.

Jack said:
Maybe Toss: Urban Legend
I'm not sure about this one. It brings back to mind too many cautionary stories about "2 finger Joe" or "Annie One hand" that I was told when I went through Bomb School. Without verification, I've got to call this an Urban Legend.

Kelly said:
Definitely Toss: Other
I can find no hits at all on this on google. A search for porritt and bomb turns up population bombs but no news articles on this. I can't validate this as a true account.

Becky said:
Maybe Toss: Urban Legend
Researching on google and other sites has turned up zilch. It's amazing that he's so stupid, yet no reports exist that I can find. I wasn't able to find the mine, either.

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