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Darwin Awards
2007 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
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Not So Weir-d Story

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Calgary is a lovely city nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Perhaps you have to have lived here for some time, or perhaps you have to remember that water runs downhill and there's usually more of it in the spring after the snows melt, but it's generally not considered a good idea to raft on the Bow River when the spring run-off is heading downstream. Make that a bad idea if there's just been a big rain storm and there's even more water in the river. And make that a really bad idea if you don't wear life jackets. And let's top it off by not noticing that the safety boom on the river (which usually stops suicidal boaters from tumbling over the weir) was just washed away in that big rain storm. Five people took to three rafts for a leisurely float down the river, apparently expecting someone else to take care of the details like where to stop and how. Maybe they were expecting the safety boom above the weir to be their destination. Normally the boom is in place to prevent boats from going over the weir and getting trapped in the rolling and tumbling, laundry-style action of the water, but it broke in the recent storm and high water levels have made it impossible to fix it since. Two fire department spokesmen pointed out that public warnings about the weir have been issued, and "there are quite a few signs between the weir and the Calgary Zoo bridge warning about the danger that lies ahead." Some of the boaters were recent arrivals from Quebec, which could mean that they didn't understand the signs, which are all in English, but that is the only mitigating factor in this situation. One of the survivors, Claudie Tremblay, summed up the event with the statement, "I could have died." God knows she gave it her best shot, but luck got in the way of Darwinian inevitability, at least in her case. Two of her friends weren't so lucky and Darwin had his way.

Submitted on 06/14/2007

Submitted by: Rick Patterson
Reference: Calgary Herald, June 11, 2007

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

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James said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
A more florid write-up on the recent Bow River incident. I will pass it on to Darwin!

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Thanks, Rick. This provides more information on what we've already received.

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