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Darwin Awards
2011 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
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Longer Chain Needed

2011 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Back in the late 1960’s one of my crews was wrecking and salvaging the old sturdy two-story schoolhouse in Marana, Arizona. On my way to Tucson I stopped by the job. Only a strong double brick wall with stucco on one side and lath, wire, and plaster on the inside was still standing. The foreman had fixed a 4 x 4 behind a second story window with a chain leading to the bucket of a Caterpillar 977 front-end loader. I could see that the chain was not long enough to avoid the wall coming down on the top of the rig and operator. The foreman informed me that he knew what he was doing. I suggested he measure the height of the wall, measure back on the ground the same distance, draw a line and keep the rig behind the line before starting anything. I then left to bid a job in Tucson. On my way back to Phoenix I stopped by the job. The wall was down. . . on top of the 977 loader. The crew was calmly eating lunch while the foreman was sitting propped against a nearby tree, dazed, covered with debris, all cut up, and bleeding - he said he was okay. I had one of the crew rush him to the Emergency room of University Medical Center.

He was saved from a Darwin Award because the upraised bucket of the front loader had deflected the heaviest debris from killing him.

The Caterpillar 977 survived with just a few dents.

Submitted on 07/02/2011

Submitted by: G.A. Sinema
Reference: Personal Story - G.A. Sinema Phx, AZ

Copyright © 2011 DarwinAwards.com

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James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Thanks for an amusing story! Needless to say, if this had happened today, your "foreman" would have no doubt tried to sue you! :-)

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Urban Legend
Thanks for the fantastic story! Can we say 'told you so?'

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