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Sadly not santa but some other poor git.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-50207301
Not too envious of the guy taking the 100m cherry picker up there either tbh 👀
My god - I hired a cherry picker once and thought I'd take it up to full height to take some pics of the house. Horrid thing - couldn't get above about seven metres as it was wobbling and bouncing all over the place...
Surely that cherry picker is a photoshop????!!!!??
I hope there isn’t much wind up there. Apart from maybe the dangling blokes pants - I’d be filling my trousers at that height to be sure!
Yes, balls of steel going up there. Surprised such a thing even exists.
Guess the poor chap who's stuck has either passed away or is at least seriously unwell given how long he's been unresponsive up there 🙁
Do we know how he got up there?
That is a proper boom. They have some big o es during the golf coverage but that's a beast! That'll be on a full lorry bed I presume.
I guess he’s probably passed out after the constant screaming and multiple involuntary bowel movements.
Surely that cherry picker is a photoshop????!!!!??
Nope.
I've hired that machine for window surveys on a 23 storey block of flats.
It's a Bronto Skylift SLA. About £5k a day.
He won't be alive.
Won't have been for some time either.
I would think so too, sounds like they've got him down.
https://twitter.com/BBC_Cumbria/status/1188859071492804609
He won’t be alive.
Sadly, that was my thought. He's been up there since closing time last night with no shirt on. It was -1 at street level this morning. Poor sod.
Do we know how he got up there?
Time of first report was 2:20am so I'm guessing a few drinks were involved, physically, via the (damaged) ladder?
News just reported they’ve got him down.
That’s some beer jacket if he’s not spannered.
Now confirmed that he's dead 🙁
Sad outcome, saw the cherrypicker up there this afternoon as I went past, the chimney is absolutely massive, god only knows how long it took him to climb up there in the first place.
News is saying he has died. 😳☹️
Not surprisingly really but still tragic.
What a horrific way to die. Alone, terrified and in a world of pain. Poor guy.
Seriously - he wouldn’t have known much.
Inverted - you’re talking a very short time before both his brain and organs start shutting down.
Someone unfortunately is going to have to answer a whole load of questions as to how hes been able to access the climb. Will be really shit for that person but that's how things are going.
I bet old Fred Dibnah would have taken that in his stride.
Been up around 140 ft in a picker, that was bloody scary enough.
Inverted – you’re talking a very short time before both his brain and organs start shutting down.
Someone unfortunately is going to have to answer a whole load of questions as to how hes been able to access the climb.
in my completely uneducated view, the only person who should be answering the hard questions is the incident commander who saw an inverted man hanging from the chimney, told the Heli crew to back off and ordered the cherry picker in from a hundred miles away.
Unless he was dead by the time the heli got there, in which case fair enough.
I assume the issue with helicopter was they couldn't know how well attached he was and the downdraught could have had him falling to the ground or if well attached swinging around at the end of a rope smashing into the chimney.
Very sad story and hugely frustrating and tough for the emergency services having to watch while knowing there was nothing they could do.
Bit early for blaming the emergency services for someone dying before they could save him from a very precarious position he'd put himself in.
@the generalist.
In true STW fashion a guy appears to of climbed a chimney unauthorised, got into trouble of his own accord and the emergency services sent to try and rescue him (without killing themselves in the process) are to blame somehow? Go figure.
Sad situation but i dont see why the emergency services have anything to answer.
Bit early for blaming the emergency services for someone dying before they could save him from a very precarious position he’d put himself in.
No that's perfectly normal in my experience
in my completely uneducated view
Dicking* about at that height isn't something you sign your crew** up yo without some sort of safe plan.
Its sad and awful but no matter what way you cut putting more people at risk because of one persons actions drunk or otherwise is not acceptable***
*Dicking about in the sense of "winging it"
**People like Bruneep^
***It might be okay but the risks are high!
n my completely uneducated view, the only person who should be answering the hard questions is the incident commande
Wasnt referring to the emergency services in any way, and the decisions they make are usually born through huge experience and training.
The person/s who are going to be getting it in the neck are anybody involved with the site itself, especially if it was under some kind of construction work. If it is found in anyway to be unsecure etc someone is going to be facing some very serious questioning and even prison time. I presume the place will be crawling with the hse now.
Very sad for all involved, especially if it was some post pub shenanigans.
Sorry. I shouldn't be posting on here like this.
As you were.
wrightyson
...The person/s who are going to be getting it in the neck are anybody involved with the site itself...
If it was a kid up there, fair enough, but an adult who voluntarily put himself in that position?
Why do we need a scapegoat?
I'm going for "death by misadventure" and nothing much else coming from it
If it was a kid up there, fair enough, but an adult who voluntarily put himself in that position?
Not all adults make good, rational, grown up decisions.
Especially ones who are pissed.
Why do we need a scapegoat
because its always someone else's fault.
just look at the Grenfell report.
Why do we need a scapegoat?
I never mentioned anyone being a scapegoat and I've always been firmly on the side of "you shouldn't have been there" but I know fully well how these things work and are investigated.
If hes wandered in easily and hopped on the bottom of the unguarded chimney ladder then someone is going to get grief, if hes scaled a 3m hoarded fence and dismantled barriers to get to the bottom of the ladder then it's a different matter.
I did read in a local rag type article that he was still alive at 8am as hed communicated via the police drone, if that's the case its worse than previously thought.
However it ends up it's a very sad outcome for all involved.
Technical question: Several people have hinted that hanging upside down kills quicker. Is that true? What's the mechanism for that? Does exposure kill faster upside down? Or is it something else? (My google-fu was weak on this one.)
If he's wandered in easily and hopped on the bottom of the unguarded chimney ladder then someone is going to get grief, if hes scaled a 3m hoarded fence and dismantled barriers to get to the bottom of the ladder then it’s a different matter.
From the news last night it sounds closer to the latter than the former.
If hes wandered in easily and hopped on the bottom of the unguarded chimney ladder then someone is going to get grief, if hes scaled a 3m hoarded fence and dismantled barriers to get to the bottom of the ladder then it’s a different matter.
Seems fair enough. ?
Must be up for the 2019 Darwin award?
Must be up for the 2019 Darwin award?
and theres the post that appears on every thread like this
@outofbreath - I think (stress *think*) that it's because the organs in the lower abdomen press onto the diaphragm and lungs when you are inverted and you slowly asphyxiate. There might be something associated with blood flow as well as there aren't the strong muscles in the neck and head to push the blood back against gravity.
Back when I was climbing if someone had fallen and was unconscious then the first act after checking for broken spine would be to get them upright.
There are always going to be some people who drink way too much and do something stupid. Occasionally someone dies. Unless we as a society have a radical rethink re. our attitude towards alcohol this won’t change. Tbh if a man in his 50s hasn’t learnt how to handle his booze that is a pretty sad reflection of things IMO.
If I was the coroner I would be questioing his friends and family to try to get a better idea of his state of mind before he drank the alcohol.
Where has it said he was drinking? He could have just been taking pictures?
I dunno - somebody suggested that alcohol was involved. Either that or he was an Urbexer doing it for the bragging rights; there are plenty of chimney climbs documented on 28dayslater.
Must be up for the 2019 Darwin award?
Was the first thing I thought when I read about it....
somebody suggested that alcohol was involved. Either that or he was an Urbexer
I'm working on the assumption that he had mental health issues and will avoid speculation until further information becomes available that contradicts this.
I'm still waiting for some idiot to try it while the big chimney is still standing at Didcot. Thats 199m tall.
They did it a while back as a protest.
Unless we as a society have a radical rethink re. our attitude towards alcohol this won’t change.
What like bring in prohibition, that works well doesn't it. A man did something stupid and sadly payed the ultimate price for that stupidity. It happens and always will some people are just wired that way.
stupid question probably, but video footage shows him dangling by the ladder which presumably he climbed up, why couldn't rescuers climb up and if not get him down at least give him some support and a coat?
The ladder is presumably 150 years old and considered unsafe to use
why couldn’t rescuers climb up and if not get him down at least give him some support and a coat?
Got to assume an assessment considered this was unsafe. If the ladder was robust maybe possible but the commander has to consider the safety of his officers.
stupid question probably, but video footage shows him dangling by the ladder which presumably he climbed up, why couldn’t rescuers climb up and if not get him down at least give him some support and a coat?
We don't know, but I'm guessing the ladder was damaged/not safe to climb. (It looks to me like it's pulled away at the top which is may be how/why the guy ended up in that state.)
As you say if there had been a secure ladder they could at least have had someone up there talking to him ergo there can't have been.
why are you talking about prohibition? I am merely suggesting that if going out & getting so drunk you end up killing yourself (or someone else) becomes less socially acceptable, then less people will do it. (Exactly as has happened with drink driving, sexism, smoking, smacking children, etc)What like bring in prohibition, that works well doesn’t it. A man did something stupid and sadly payed the ultimate price for that stupidity. It happens and always will some people are just wired that way.
wwaswas
Subscriber
I’m working on the assumption that he had mental health issues and will avoid speculation until further information becomes available that contradicts this.
I cant tell if this post is speculation, not speculation, or sarcasm
Haha! Bruneep.
bruneep
Subscriber
😉
Also, who would climb up a rusting unsafe ladder with a 16 stone pissed idiot hanging right above you who could fall at any minute taking you with him?
Also, who would climb up a rusting unsafe ladder with a human being right above you who could fall at any minute taking you with him?
Nice point. Even if the ladder was safe before the incident it certainly wasn't with the Sword of Damocles hanging at the top. 🙁
Tragic.
He was clearly a fit lad no matter whether he's been on the ale or not. 90m up a vertical is not done easily.
But as I said before a very sad outcome which on another day may have been telling all your mates on Monday morning about what you got up to on Sunday night.
The chimney was restored recently so the ladder was probably in pretty good condition.
Unfortunately sometimes these sorts of structures are often a long standing “dare” to climb up, couple that with too many Stellas and you’ve got someone who used to be fit bragging and going through with a very dangerous climb beyond their physical ability at the time. Fred Dibnah started by climbing a chimney which he shouldn’t have been doing - the 262ft Barrow bridge one for a bet when he was young.
Probably been quite a few people done it over the years with no ill effect but that’s probably through luck more than anything else.
This guy might have got to the top and while moving around on the top of the ladder slipped and got caught in the ropes.
I think killing or being killed is pretty socially unacceptable already.
The ladders look like temporary Steeplejack ones, so it looks like someone has unfortunately taken advantage of them for a little adventure. I'll be interested to know if the rescue team involved people from a steeplejack firm ? - It does seem odd that someone didn't just climb up, clip a harness around him an lower him down.
I suspect he planned a grand exit from this world off the chimney top but fell and became entangled in the ladder.
The results of the PM should be interesting from a physiological stand point.
Very sad event.
I am merely suggesting that if going out & getting so drunk you end up killing yourself (or someone else) becomes less socially acceptable, then less people will do it.
I don't think getting drunk and killing yourself or others has ever been socially acceptable. But I don't think it was necessarily massively excessive drinking that killed this man (he did manage to climb nearly 100m up a ladder) but his impulsive risk taking personality. How does society alter that ?
I don't think alcohol has the pharmokinetics to drive somebody to do this.
And if in excess would have impaired the ability to scale the ladder.
I suspect psychoactives were involved.
Again - PM should be interesting along with a back story.
I'm not being ghoulish. Just want to know why/how/what. It's such a unique
incident.
You mean pharmacodynamics. Pharmacokinetics is what the body does to the drug (ie absorb, distrubute, metabolise and excrete it).
Alcohol could easily cause someone to hold the false confidence that climbing a tall chimney is possible. I've certainly experienced a sweet spot when drunk when I've passed rationality and still have the physical faculties to behave irrationaly. Adrenaline will carry you a fair way too, once you've put yourself in a dangerous situation.
I’ve certainly experienced a sweet spot when drunk when I’ve passed rationality and still have the physical faculties to behave irrationaly.
Mines 2-3 pints, I'm glad I don't walk past a steeple on my way home from the pub 😈😈
I’ve certainly experienced a sweet spot when drunk when I’ve passed rationality and still have the physical faculties to behave irrationaly. Adrenaline will carry you a fair way too, once you’ve put yourself in a dangerous situation.
and climbing up a ladder is way easier than climbing down it...
It does seem odd that someone didn’t just climb up, clip a harness around him an lower him down.
The reports were that the ladder was damaged and so unsafe. Both for someone climbing up and for the helicopter getting close enough to winch.
Adrenaline will carry you a fair way too, once you’ve put yourself in a dangerous situation.
Spinal Injury wards are full of anecdotes of drink and bravado
Adrenaline will carry you a fair way too, once you’ve put yourself in a dangerous situation.
There's a line near campus that I'd looked at riding 20+ times but always wimped out on, it involved a steep set of stairs with a 45 degree 1/2 way down, then riding along a 10m long 40cm wide wall to "drop in" on a ramp about 1m below which led into a really nice natural tabletop followed by a berm, completely doable but the risk was pretty high as the stairs had a very low railing and the wall had a 3m drop to one side, but we'd theorised that carrying speed would make it awesome! Did it one night after about 6 pints when riding back from the pub on the SS hack bike, was awesome and flowed beautifully. Never summoned the courage to do it again, I even bailed 1/2 way along the wall twice (to the safe side).
Regarding the ‘why didn’t they just...’ questions; bear in mind that the appetite for a body recovery is very different to that for a live rescue. I suspect that the emergency services had a very good idea of the individuals condition from the helo sortie; after that I don’t think that anyone was rushing. This bloke had been topless, upside down in a very exposed position for several hours before he was spotted. It was never going to have a happy ending.
I don’t think alcohol has the pharmokinetics to drive somebody to do this.
You’d be wrong then. People do incredible stupid things when drunk.
No idea if that was why he did this but it stands be quite possible.
Breaking news : Drac* concludes that somebody else is wrong.
*aka The Oracle.
People do incredible stupid things when drunk.
And most of the time they get away with it.
When I was about 17-18 we used to take a shortcut back from the pub to my mates house via an abandoned railway bridge across a river. It was rotten, sketchy and pretty much two steel beams left over a 20ft drop into a river. We got away with it.
5 yrs later his little brother went missing on his way home from the pub. No one knows exactly what happened but given they found him a few miles downstream a few days later I’ve got a good idea. He made the national news too.
I cant tell if this post is speculation, not speculation, or sarcasm
More like the whole 2 pages are mainly speculation.
All those hours hanging on a chimney in freezing temperatures, I reckon his death was flue related!
Just sad regardless of how it occurred. Feel for his family.
Funkmaster+1. Horrible for all concerned 🙁
Breaking news : Drac* concludes that somebody else is wrong
Derek - your presumption is that an external factor like drink or a drug would 'drive' someone to take an action. Drink and drugs don't have ideas for you. What drink or any other intoxicant can do is take away an inhibition. You might want to do something anyway and the only thing stopping you is that you're sober. The drink, or anything else, just stops you from stopping yourself.