GANDER — An encounter with a pretty but highly poisonous plant has claimed the life of one of the province's most promising young actors.

Andre Noble, 25, died last Friday after sampling leaves from monkshood growing on Fair Island.

Noble, who had moved to Toronto two and a half years ago and was the star of the new independent feature film Sugar, was visiting family and friends in his hometown of Centreville.

Friend and colleague Matt Austin says Noble was likely just curious about the plant and wanted to find out what it tasted like.

"My reaction that he died that was was incomprehensible, really," Austin says. "It's so unreal right now. I'm in a state of disbelief."

Just last week, Noble had been in Philadelphia, promoting the distribution of Sugar.

Noble's other credits include a part in Random Passage and a role in the 2003 feature Twist.

Monkshood is so named because its petals resemble the head coverings traditionally worn by monks. It resembles the lupin.

Peter Scott, a biology professor at Memorial University, says monkshood is common in many people's gardens, but human contact should be avoided.

"Children can get poisoned if they just hold the roots in their hands for a period of time. And it's considered the most poisonous of the European plants," Scott says.

Scott recommends removing monkshood from any garden where children or pets are present.

Submitted on 10/25/2005

Submitted by: Iain Macdonald
Reference: St. John's Telegram

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Greg said:
Maybe Toss: Other
I'm not sure about this one. Did he know what he was sampling? Was he after a high? Too many questions for now.

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
While I imagine this poor fellow had no prior knowledge of poisonous plants, this is a PRIME example of "curiosity killing the cat". By the age of 25, one SHOULD know better than to try just anything "to see how tastes". One may as well pick up an asp "just to see if it bites". There is arrogant stupidity, and on the other end of the rainbow, naive stupidity. This is a case of the latter, and as such I vote DA!

Jack said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Having survived the 60s and 70s, I must also wonder if he was looking for a "natural high." But doing so without some basic research first qualifies him as a DA nominee, IMO.

Charles said:
Definitely Toss: Other
This one was submitted originally in August 2004 when it happened, and teh concensus of the moderators then was to reject. I see no new information here.

Jorge said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes

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