An 87 year old gentleman went to start his tractor on a beautiful Saturday morning. Realizing, a touch too late, that it was already in gear, he attempted to jump off to safety. He very nearly succeeded, clearing all but a leg from under the tractor. The tractor, unfazed, continued on.

This particular episode of an unfortunately common farming tragedy was witnessed by the man's prospective son in law, a man also remarkable for being a part time race car driver. The fiancee to be sprang into action, running past the stricken father in law (who, with a broken leg, was likely screaming in agony) in an effort to stop the moving tractor. He apparently believed the tractor to be moving in the direction of an unoccupied storage shed. He attempted to jump up on the tractor, nearly succeeded, only to be thrown from it and crushed to death. The tractor proceeded to run into a ditch where it stopped, having damaged only a fence. The storage shed was spared.

This meets Darwin award criteria as the deceased was an adult, with no diagnosed psychiatric impairments, was prevented from reproducing with his fiancee, and died as a result of his own decisions. Reasons you may not care to use this are that the fellow, being 47, had two children from a previous relationship.

Submitted on 05/13/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: NJ Courier News, Mar 20,2006

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
I will let Darwin decide on this one. I couldn't do a search on c-n.com, but it's a local south New jersey paper (Ringoes is a town in NJ), so I don't doubt the veracity. I am surprised it wasn't in the archives! While not the most spectacular bid for a DA, I have to admit this fellow had his priorities mixed up, and his attempt at derring-do derring-did him in!

Jorge said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award

Sheryl said:
Neutral: For Darwin's Eyes
Thanks for the story. I'm going along with James on this one as I'm unsure whether there might be a "Bystanders Hurt" content to it. Darwin needs to make the decision on this one, I think.

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