The man tried to jump the four-foot gap between the bottom of the stuck elevator to the lobby floor about 5.30 a.m., the building's doorman said.

Instead, he hit the floor, lost his balance and toppled down the elevator shaft.

"I said, 'I'm coming with a chair,' I told him to hold on," said Pat Riley, a doorman at the 1991 Residences at Broadway and 68th Street.

"But then I saw him jump out and he lost his balance...He was moaning and groaning, he was asking for help."

The man, who was not identified, is thought to be in his early 40s and has been delivering newspapers in the building for three years, had been rushing to leave when the elevator got stuck, said Riley.

The trapped man managed to pry the doors open himself before jumping, the doorman said.

The deliveryman's wife, who was waiting for the delivery man him outside the building, "broke down" after firefighters told her about the accident, said Riley.

The FDNY confirmed they took a man from that address to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

"That feeling when you can't help somebody, it's horrible," said Riley. "It took 10 years off my life."

Submitted on 04/21/2011

Submitted by: Jonathan
Reference: DNAinfo.com, 4/21/2011

Copyright © 2011 DarwinAwards.com

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Trapped in an elevator, a four-foot jump, the doorman was aware of his predicament and was trying to help, and he JUMPS!?! Idiot!

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Not wanting to wait a minute or two for somebody to assist you is worth risking your life over? Sounds like a DA in the making to me! Thanks, Jonathan!

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