2007 Honorable Mentions

The stupidity displayed by the participants in the following tales stops short of the ultimate Darwin Awards sacrifice. Nevertheless, we salute the spirit and innovation of their misadventures.

Kicked the Bucket 2007 Honorable Mention Confirmed True by Darwin (26 January 2007, Texas) In a world full of wonders, man invented boredom. So work time becomes play time. If you work in an office, you reproduce your naughty bits on the copy machine. If you work for an arc welding company? A plastic bucket, welding materials, and a single spark can combine for a play date with a bang. "I was on the computer when I heard the boom," said a resident of the trailer park adjacent to the welding shop. "It shook my house. The whole neighborhood could feel it!" Just for kicks, a 30-year-old welder and four co-workers had attempted to blow up a plastic bucket. Our man placed a striker, a spark-generating device used to start a welder's torch, in the plastic bucket and sealed it. Then he filled the bucket with acetylene, an explosive gas used for welding. The plan was to toss the bucket in the air, and watch it explode when the striker sparked. Before that happened , however, our Darwin wannabe inadvertently kicked the plastic bucket, and the striker struck a spark. BOOM. The explosive force turned the lid of the bucket into a whirling saw that flew through the air and struck the man in his right arm, nearly severing it. He also sustained lacerations to his right leg. No one else was injured in the blast, and no charges were filed, as it was felt that the perpetrator of the incident had already been sufficiently punished. ORIGINAL SUBMISSION DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2009 Reference: Galveston (TX) Daily News Awful? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Great? Hate it! Love it!

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