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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Parrot rescue ends in disaster

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Here is a story from my local newspaper in Asheville NC. I nominated this because the man climbed a live utility pole with a metal ladder to "rescue" a parrot- a parrot perfectly capable of flying to the ground. As of now the "rescuer" is in the hospital, and so would only be an honorable mention- for now.

ASHEVILLE – John Marlowe liked to help others, so it wasn’t out of character to try to rescue a parrot perched on a power pole, a friend said Wednesday.

“He wouldn’t let me go up the ladder, and he’s older than I am,” Scott Gordon said. “What a friend. He went to get the bird. That was his friend, too.” Advertisement

Marlowe, 60, was shocked and burned Wednesday morning as he become entangled in power lines after scaling a borrowed 30-foot ladder to rescue Crackerjack, Gordon’s 15-year-old macaw parrot.

“It shook the ground, and there was a big burst of flame,” said witness Kelvin Wagner, owner of K-Lou’s Hand Car Wash & Detail Shop on Tunnel Road.

Marlowe continued to be listed in serious condition today at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

Having served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division during the Vietnam War, Marlowe stayed at the Asheville-Buncombe Christian Community Ministry Veteran’s Restoration Quarters and Transitional Housing facility on Tunnel Road, Gordon said.

Asheville Fire and Rescue found Marlowe tangled in the wires about 9:45 a.m., said Kelley Webb, fire and rescue spokeswoman.

They were forced to wait for the power company to shut off the electricity before pulling him out, Webb said. The power line carried 12,000 volts, she said.

Douglas Waite, who owns Newbridge Country Market on Tunnel Road, said he heard a boom, ran outside and then saw Marlowe.

“I ran back here and grabbed a fire extinguisher,” Waite said. “We tried to spray him from the ground and somebody else actually climbed the ladder and tried to spray him.”

“It was horrific. Absolutely horrific,” Waite said. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I hope I never do again.”

Submitted on 04/10/2008

Submitted by: Susannah G
Reference: Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville NC, April 10, 2008

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Luckily the would-be rescuer who climbed the ladder was not shocked as well. Thanks, Susannah


James said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Normally, I'd toss something like this outright (someone who helps others generally doesn't deserve to be so brutally shocked), but I am going to make an exception because a) he survived the Airborne Division (he's a tough old nut, I hope he survives this one too), and b) was HELL BENT on retrieving his friend's parrot AT ALL COSTS! Folks with that sense of derring-do are generally blind to danger. I'll wager whoever led the charge of the Light Brigade was the same sort of person! :-) Thanks, Susannah!


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