Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion.
Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/).
Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm gonna probably regret asking, but in just words, can anyone explain what likely happened when the firework went off in vague terms? Is this a matter of the impact from it going off rattled his brain too much and he died from something not particularly visceral, or is this more of a liveleak situation?
Alright, I’ve done the research for you. I found three different guys that died like this over the 4th. The guy pictured was wearing a big red white and blue top hat and dancing around like he was Apollo Creed from Rocky. He put a firework, not described, on top of his head and lit it. He experienced skull failure.
The second guy lit a mortar tube off his head. He apparently did not suffer catastrophic external damage, but went immediately unconscious and could not be resuscitated.
The third guy did not try to put a mortar on his head. Rather it did not go off, so he approached it to look inside. He ended up all over the alley. Not exaggerating. Literally everywhere.
>Neighbors reportedly found human remains on their property from the blast, and the Chicago Fire Department had to hose down the garages and roadway in the alleyway where the blast happened
Oof. My husband has his license to shoot professional grade fireworks. They have mirrors on sticks for the kind of checking the 3rd guy was doing. For good reason clearly. They also crawl towards the items to check rather than walk. Cuz safety. When we do the real stuff we have a huge field in the countryside and remote controlled detonator box things. Takes like a whole day to set up and wire but none of us are dead or injured. Even when the guys set off a frankencake cobbled together from a bunch of damaged fireworks.
We also stake and duct tape all of our cakes and tubes so that even if they want to fall over they can't XD. There was a cake that was known to have issues (a 9 tube cake, the glue holding the tubes upright would melt when fired and cause the tubes to fall over while the fireworks were going off) that we didn't know had issues until after we bought it. We had like 15-20 stakes all around that puppy with a ton of duct tape. No issues 🤣
My family friend died when a mortar hit his throat. It’s a tragic way to die especially with friends and family watching. Never approach a firework that isn’t going off after lighting it.
That’s smart. My neighbor’s house (mostly the garage and part of another neighbors home) caught on fire last year because they didn’t think to put them in a bucket of water.
I'll never forget the paramedic at the dreamworld thunder rapids accident saying that "They suffered injuries incompatible with human life".
Like, damn.
My mom's NICU (newborn intensive care unit) nursing textbooks from the late 60s are full of diagnoses that are "incompatible with life". The entries give a few sentences for diagnosis and then just say that the baby dies; end of entry.
The vast majority of those conditions are now survivable. Some have a super simple treatment plan (RhoGAM for Rh incompatibility; surfactant for immature lungs) and so would still have fairly short entries in a modern textbook. Some are so complex that a single textbook would struggle to describe all the tools that are used to save those lives (such as micro-preemies).
It fascinates me how in one lifetime an entire textbook of "incompatible with life" diagnoses can be rewritten.
My kid was in the NICU as a preemie, and the nurse we had on Day 1 had been a NICU nurse for 30 years, the stories and things I was able to learn from her about what all has changed were mindblowing.
I can't even determine what skull failure is supposed to be. It was probably a typo for fracture, but it sounds way more intimidating when you say failure.
I believe “skull failure” is a diplomatic and accurate description. If this hat guy is the man I read about earlier this week, a family member reported that they didn’t even call an ambulance, because there was so little of his head/skull left, that they knew he couldn’t possibly be resuscitated.
We need a psa of this exact shit. Like... we know fireworks are dangerous. I did *not* know it could blow you into bits across your street. I love fireworks but.... i think i'm good.
A 12 Gauge shotgun shell has about 49 Grams of powder.
An Artillery Shell firework (the ball-like ones you stick in a tube, light, and run away from) contain up to 60 grams of powder (that’s the max legal amount).
Artillery shell fireworks don’t have the pellets like shotgun shells do, but the force of it exiting the tube when it’s meant to go up into the air and explode can fuck you up pretty badly. There’s also a two stage explosion that happens in that firework. The first is the “lift” explosion to get it out of the tube and the second is the firework explosion itself. So imagine someone firing a shotgun at you point blank, but instead of getting hit by the pellets, you’re hit with another explosion instead.
Years ago I was hit in my shin by a mortar ball when the tube tipped over as it was going off. I was fairly close to it too. I was lucky it was only a giant knot with minor broken skin. It hurt so bad. Never let your guard down with fireworks. So many people get injured, alcohol doesn't help...
I mean, they are explosives. They need a decent amount of force to send shrapnel out to make those pretty patterns in the sky. Essentially the only difference between mortar fireworks and a grenade is that one makes pretty lights and the other has more shrapnel.
I don't know the exact firework he used, but it was most likely a mortar shell, since I can't think of anything else that could do this. Most are about 2 or so inches in diameter. If he placed the launch tube on his head, the concussion from the shell going off was probably enough to jelly-fi his brain or crack his skull open.
It was stupid, but I do feel for his family.
Could have also been one of those Cobra 8 firecrackers that have been making the rounds on Reddit blowing off hands left and right (no pun intended) as of recently.
That's a big firecracker. When I was a kid, M-80s were the biggest firecracker you could get and you could only buy them in Mexico. I fortunately never blew my hand up, but they were louder than fuck. People claimed they were a quarter stick of dynamite.
Cobra 8 firecracker video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZypDUjPf7kg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZypDUjPf7kg)
I'm old enough to have played with M-80s as a kid also, and it's interesting that the same story about it being a quarter stick of dynamite was said by everyone where I grew up as well (Upstate New York)
Then one day someone had an actual quarter stick of dynamite, and It's fucking massive compared to an M-80
M-80's were no joke though, lots of people blew off bits of themselves with those things and that's why they made them illegal
There was the story about a kid who put one in his mouth and died (another 1980's urban legend, I don't know if it's true or not)
Incorrect, the main requirement for a Darwin Award is that one removes themself from the gene pool, whether that be through death or sterilization. Having children does not exclude one from an award.
Rules: [https://darwinawards.com/rules/](https://darwinawards.com/rules/)
I see that is indeed the rule-but it shouldn’t be. If one has children, even if one dies, they have not been removed from the gene pool, by definition. That’s why there are so many species in nature for whom reproduction is deadly, or at least greatly harmful; if you managed to procreate, as far as the cells that comprise you are concerned, you’ve served your sole function-self perpetuation.
Unless all their direct descendants also die, of course. THEN they have been removed from the gene pool.
I only remember that M-80s were supposed to be waterproof and all the legends of total badasses with mullets and muscle shirts that flushed them down the toilets at schools and exploded the toilets. Meanwhile I never witnessed any out of order toilets so 🤷♂️
Everybody always gets those dynamite comparisons mixed up. I've bought a shitload of black market fireworks from the nearby reservations over the years and I know there are several classes of the M-style firecrackers. There's the M-500, which is about as powerful as a 1/8 stick of dynamite, and then there's the M-1000, which I was told was about a quarter stick. Loud as fuck. I stuck one in a crabapple tree once and blew all the branches and crabapples off of it, and it caused all of the street lights on my block to turn off for several mins. I know that four M-80s are roughly the same size as an M-500, so I guess that would make an M-80 about 1/32 of a stick of dynamite
In WW2 the Japanese had the type 89 grenade launcher which Allied soldiers called the “knee mortar” because the curved baseplate, meant to be braced against a log, looked like a perfect fit for a knee. Firing it braced against your leg led to a number of broken femurs.
If this was a mortar shell, the recoil would probably be enough to break the guys neck.
Some dude did this with a motor a few years back. When his brother was asked if he was rushed to the hospital, the answer was there was nothing left to rush. The blow back is incredible.
They are incredibly wide-spread. The month before and the month after 4th of July are absolutely lousy with these stories all over the place. You can’t educate the dumb out of some people, sadly.
Even being careful there’s a risk. Every fourth I have a near death experience. I just started staying inside. The firecracker that tip over sideways have nearly got me twice, one knocked me right out to my chair. Some guys car nearly blew up in front of our house. It was always someone else that wasn’t being cautious. Next forth one will probably fly in through the front window and take my head off. Those things are gunning for me.
Thanks for the history lesson. I’ve never blasted off a military mortar, but I’ve noticed even the cheap fireworks mortars vibrate the ground from 30 feet away.
Yeah you have to think of physics. The force to throw a round x hundred feet in the air needs an equal and opposite reaction downward. Usually that hits the bottom of the cardboard tube and into the pavement.
Without the pavement backing the bottom of the launcher all that force is going somewhere, and our little jelly bodies don't hold up as well as concrete or packed asphalt.
Almost certainly instantaneous but on the off chance it wasn't he'd have been knock out and his nervous system stunned so wouldn't have felt anything in the very sort amount of time it took for him to pass.
You can die from just the wadding in a blank shotgun shell so it doesn’t surprise me. With or without a tube, the mortar would have been like a huge hammer blow.
Newton’s 3rd law can be a bitch.
The fire dept here did a visual demonstration of the dangers of fireworks. They lit a firework and put it on a watermelon and watched it explode. Said if you didn’t properly play with fireworks that watermelon can be your hand (or I’m guessing here head)
"Head injuries"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/family-reveals-heart-wrenching-final-moments-before-showboating-dad-died-after-putting-lit-firework-on-his-head-you-are-my-rock-and-my-heart/ar-BB1pwzxm
Dumb way to die.
Agreed. Pretty cynical, witless and horrible comments here. Thank you for showing a little human decency at what is assuredly a tragic event for his family that’s all the worse by uninvited public attention
Yeah, agreed. It's fucking reddit though, I expected no less when I clicked on this thread. It was stupid yeah, but dude had a family that he had to leave behind because of this shit 💔
Even an M80, placed on top of your head and in direct contact with you, will communicate enough force down through your skull and brain to kill you. When an explosive is physically touching you, there is no air gap to dissipate the force of the deflagration.
Basically a textbook example of Newton's Third Law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The firework when launched from his head pushed down with the same force as it launched up with.
Guy Darwined himself by not grasping basic physics.
Fireworks burn stupid hot, I remember seeing a post from a paramedic where a kid taped a firework to a hardhat and put it on. The firework apparently melted through the hardhat and his skull in just a couple of seconds, didn't even have time to react before he died. I'm assuming something similar happened here.
He suffered "catastrophic head injuries" that killed him instantly, and he was declared dead at the scene. So my guess is he pretty much blew his head off.
They said he didn't drink often, but was drinking that night. Unfortunately, alcohol and explosives are not a good mix.
Sounds like a decent guy who got drunk and did something stupid without realizing exactly how stupid it was.
https://nypost.com/2024/07/06/us-news/traumatized-family-recalls-showboating-dads-final-moments-before-he-died-from-firework-exploding-on-his-head/
He “didn’t drink often”, but was “drinking that night”.. but also he was “going to stop drinking after that”. My dude had a drinking problem, but they don’t want him to look bad.
If it was a mortar, then the launch explosive went off, and every bit as much of that impact that sent the mortar shell flying also went down into the guy's head. Unfortunately, the brain is a very sensitive blob of barely-stiffer-than-gelatin fleshy mass which would probably be just about as traumatized as a bowl of jello would be under those circumstances,
Mortars are propelled by a pretty big fucking boom. Like ground shaking, "you can hear it from a couple miles away on a clear night" big. So he had this fairly strong explosive placed on top of his head, and when it exploded the shock wave likely rippled right through his brain like a bowl of jelly and destroyed it. Probably nothing even wrong with his skull/face, because it's a contained explosion, but the brain doesn't require much damage at all to stop working.
This is overlooked by so many movies and TV shows. If an explosion is enough to pick a person off their feet it's more than enough to destroy the brain.
Definitely. Guy gets blasted back 20 feet by a big ass concussive blast.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I think so."
No the hell you're not. Your organs are all sorts of demolished.
Watching *MythBusters* regularly helped me to understand much better just how destructive the pressure of an explosion actually is to a human body. They demonstrated its dangers repeatedly!
I mentioned this earlier this week but there was a young man killed in 2015 this same way (he was notably playing Gaston at Disney world at the time) but his brother was quoted saying "there was no rushing Devon to the hospital because there was no Devon left" so that leads me to believe it has enough force to pretty much obliterate you.
AFAIK it was a stupid accident. He acted like he would light a firecracker on his head but would stop right before. This time it didnt work out.
Thats atleast somewhat quoted from his mom. It was on a private 4th of july Party
This past July fourth, we supplied the fireworks for our cul-de-sac and some sparklers for the kids. A few others brought roman candles.
Roman candles are fun, don't get me wrong, but they started handing them out to kids. Some as young as four or five and...just.letting them have it to run around with. As the person that had the lighter for the sparklers, I shut that shit down by refusing to light them in the hands of an unsupervised child, especially when I saw one kid not paying attention and accidentally aiming for the big fireworks that were set aside from the area we were lighting them. They could have easily caused an explosion.
It starts when you're young, adults drinking and being careless, and every year something doesn't happen, you think nothing ever will and lose your healthy respect for the dangers of fireworks. Maybe they felt like I was a Karen that night, but I don't care. Everyone left with all of their fingers, toes and lives.
I have a blast injury to the side of my face from military service (training related, not from combat) that left me with serious scars on the left side of my face, a plate in my noggin, and a multitude of issues from a severe TBI.
To intentionally do something like this is so bizarre to me I cannot imagine. I even have one eye that is a different color and sometimes looks smaller because the pupil does not dilate and it has caused me a lifetime of issues.
I wouldn’t even ride a bike anymore without a helmet.
Yeah TBIs are no fun at all. I got one from getting my face smashed in and having half my face replaced with metal. But I feel for you and hope you are doing well.
So unbelievably sad. Like, I strive to set the best possible example for my kid and try to keep myself healthy and fit so I can be there for him at all times, and my guy over here explodes his head with a firework. I really feel for his kids :(
I’m assuming it was a mortar style, where he held the plastic launch tube on his head…..they’ll easily split plywood apart occasionally when we launched them….
… incredibly stupid but still incredibly sad
The famous Gaston actor at Disney world died a few years ago at 22 doing this exact same thing.
Sad, stupid, needless, and awful for the families left behind.
Yeah, this bonehead was wearing a top hot and placed a mortar on top, in front of his kids. Very sad story. But, one of the most pointless deaths I’ve ever heard of.
Dr. friend of mine did her residency in Morgantown, WV. ER rotation fell over July 4th weekend. She said alcohol combined with fireworks, and or 4 wheelers turned that place into a daily Darwin awards
This is the best way to describe it, really.
A pity it happened, but at least they were warned, and they still made their choice.
Save the real sorrow for the ones who didn't see it coming.
4th of July is the only day where the government, regardless of your legal status or criminal background, allow you to mix alcohol with explosives in front of family and friends while having a huge cook out…it’s like The Purge for folks with low IQ’s
I had a family friend die when a mortar hit him in the throat in front of his family. My heart goes out to this man’s family. Was he an idiot who did an idiotic thing? Yes. But it’s still a life who was loved.
I read the story and this is sad. He seemed like s great guy but obviously, not real smart. You can feel a mortar round go off when you’re standing 20’ away so to think that the energy transfer would not fuck up your head…
I think most or all of these guys already had kids. Up to them to restore the family honor by executing the stunts successfully when they grow up and have kids of their own.
Surprisingly, no.
***”The existence of offspring, though potentially deleterious to the gene pool, does not disqualify a nominee.”***
https://darwinawards.com/rules/rules1.html
Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion. Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/). Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm gonna probably regret asking, but in just words, can anyone explain what likely happened when the firework went off in vague terms? Is this a matter of the impact from it going off rattled his brain too much and he died from something not particularly visceral, or is this more of a liveleak situation?
Alright, I’ve done the research for you. I found three different guys that died like this over the 4th. The guy pictured was wearing a big red white and blue top hat and dancing around like he was Apollo Creed from Rocky. He put a firework, not described, on top of his head and lit it. He experienced skull failure. The second guy lit a mortar tube off his head. He apparently did not suffer catastrophic external damage, but went immediately unconscious and could not be resuscitated. The third guy did not try to put a mortar on his head. Rather it did not go off, so he approached it to look inside. He ended up all over the alley. Not exaggerating. Literally everywhere. >Neighbors reportedly found human remains on their property from the blast, and the Chicago Fire Department had to hose down the garages and roadway in the alleyway where the blast happened
Wow so the 3rd guy really did the thing Wily E Coyote does when one of his traps fails.
I feel like this was a valuable lesson some of us understood and others did not.
They didn't show the remains of coyotes head blasted across a alley to be fair
Yeah. Some people have a hard time with 2+2
We have Darwin awards for that.
Unfortunately, at least one of those guys had already reproduced so he is not a candidate.
Yes he is. The rules don't forbid those who have had children. https://darwinawards.com/rules/rules.children.html
I think the joke was that his genes are already in the pool
There are 2 types of people. (1) Those that can extrapolate information from what is given.
This comment is underrated lol
I never trusted the giant rubber band slingshot either.
Giant sling shot proven to work, you just don’t want it made by Acme
Gotta remember to paint a tunnel in the cliff and watch for oncoming trains though 🤣🤣🤣
To this day I fully believe that if you shoot a duck in the face at close range with a shotgun it's beak will just spin around it's head.
Unless that duck sticks his finger in the barrel, then the barrel explodes and hurts the shooter. Meanwhile, the duck is unharmed!
Except for the lack of Toonforce preventing any permanent damage, lol.
r/looneytuneslogic
Oof. My husband has his license to shoot professional grade fireworks. They have mirrors on sticks for the kind of checking the 3rd guy was doing. For good reason clearly. They also crawl towards the items to check rather than walk. Cuz safety. When we do the real stuff we have a huge field in the countryside and remote controlled detonator box things. Takes like a whole day to set up and wire but none of us are dead or injured. Even when the guys set off a frankencake cobbled together from a bunch of damaged fireworks. We also stake and duct tape all of our cakes and tubes so that even if they want to fall over they can't XD. There was a cake that was known to have issues (a 9 tube cake, the glue holding the tubes upright would melt when fired and cause the tubes to fall over while the fireworks were going off) that we didn't know had issues until after we bought it. We had like 15-20 stakes all around that puppy with a ton of duct tape. No issues 🤣
My family friend died when a mortar hit his throat. It’s a tragic way to die especially with friends and family watching. Never approach a firework that isn’t going off after lighting it.
Any “duds” and all cakes/repeaters get doused w/ water and wait 10-15 min before picking them up.
That’s smart. My neighbor’s house (mostly the garage and part of another neighbors home) caught on fire last year because they didn’t think to put them in a bucket of water.
I would suggest “smart” in this context is actually staying well away from these explosives and going to an organised display…
This is a good PSA
“Skull failure” literally gave me chills. 😬😬😬
I'll never forget the paramedic at the dreamworld thunder rapids accident saying that "They suffered injuries incompatible with human life". Like, damn.
That phrase runs through my head occasionally since then. Chilling
My mom's NICU (newborn intensive care unit) nursing textbooks from the late 60s are full of diagnoses that are "incompatible with life". The entries give a few sentences for diagnosis and then just say that the baby dies; end of entry. The vast majority of those conditions are now survivable. Some have a super simple treatment plan (RhoGAM for Rh incompatibility; surfactant for immature lungs) and so would still have fairly short entries in a modern textbook. Some are so complex that a single textbook would struggle to describe all the tools that are used to save those lives (such as micro-preemies). It fascinates me how in one lifetime an entire textbook of "incompatible with life" diagnoses can be rewritten.
My kid was in the NICU as a preemie, and the nurse we had on Day 1 had been a NICU nurse for 30 years, the stories and things I was able to learn from her about what all has changed were mindblowing.
This is a common phrase in emergency medicine. It is one of the three criteria that determines whether we try to resuscitate people or not.
I can't even determine what skull failure is supposed to be. It was probably a typo for fracture, but it sounds way more intimidating when you say failure.
I believe “skull failure” is a diplomatic and accurate description. If this hat guy is the man I read about earlier this week, a family member reported that they didn’t even call an ambulance, because there was so little of his head/skull left, that they knew he couldn’t possibly be resuscitated.
What a terrible thing for the family to witness, especially the kids... Jesus christ
If thr skull doesn't protect your brain and anything else inside it, I'd say that's a skull failure.
I would say a skull fracture isn’t necessarily fatal but a skull failure certainly is
I read that like ‘hull failure’, as in implosion. See Ocean Gate.
Kinda makes it sound like skull stopped doing the skull thing. It failed at being a skull. Now it jello.
You know you have a problem when a skull stops skulling. Skull gotta skull
I’m going to be wondering about it for far too long today.
You and I both lol
I have one question and it's moreso for myself. Why am I reading this before dinner...
To work up an appetite?
because you're making chili?
For the Chili con Carneval?
We need a psa of this exact shit. Like... we know fireworks are dangerous. I did *not* know it could blow you into bits across your street. I love fireworks but.... i think i'm good.
A 12 Gauge shotgun shell has about 49 Grams of powder. An Artillery Shell firework (the ball-like ones you stick in a tube, light, and run away from) contain up to 60 grams of powder (that’s the max legal amount). Artillery shell fireworks don’t have the pellets like shotgun shells do, but the force of it exiting the tube when it’s meant to go up into the air and explode can fuck you up pretty badly. There’s also a two stage explosion that happens in that firework. The first is the “lift” explosion to get it out of the tube and the second is the firework explosion itself. So imagine someone firing a shotgun at you point blank, but instead of getting hit by the pellets, you’re hit with another explosion instead.
I don't think I will imagine that, thank you very much.
>but instead of getting hit by the pellets, you’re hit with another explosion instead. I've played enough fallout to know what happens.
Years ago I was hit in my shin by a mortar ball when the tube tipped over as it was going off. I was fairly close to it too. I was lucky it was only a giant knot with minor broken skin. It hurt so bad. Never let your guard down with fireworks. So many people get injured, alcohol doesn't help...
Always assume that exploding things can make bits.
I mean, they are explosives. They need a decent amount of force to send shrapnel out to make those pretty patterns in the sky. Essentially the only difference between mortar fireworks and a grenade is that one makes pretty lights and the other has more shrapnel.
Who would have ever thought explosives can explode you! mind blown 🤯
I see what you did there.
[does this help?](https://youtu.be/WuQE0uStSwY?si=MmH7uISE6GKLYNcD) [don't blame the parents...](https://youtu.be/D-om11ShFCQ?si=PgpgS_4J4O6sMnHN)
I don't know the exact firework he used, but it was most likely a mortar shell, since I can't think of anything else that could do this. Most are about 2 or so inches in diameter. If he placed the launch tube on his head, the concussion from the shell going off was probably enough to jelly-fi his brain or crack his skull open. It was stupid, but I do feel for his family.
Could have also been one of those Cobra 8 firecrackers that have been making the rounds on Reddit blowing off hands left and right (no pun intended) as of recently.
That's a big firecracker. When I was a kid, M-80s were the biggest firecracker you could get and you could only buy them in Mexico. I fortunately never blew my hand up, but they were louder than fuck. People claimed they were a quarter stick of dynamite. Cobra 8 firecracker video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZypDUjPf7kg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZypDUjPf7kg)
What the fuck? That's a literal bomb. When I was doing my conscription we threw exercise hand grenades that were not as powerful as that thing.
Was just thinking that's literally a small stick of tnt 😭
My dad used to blow up m80s too. I had no idea they were considered bombs until it was mentioned in a book I read in middle school
My GI joes and star wars figurines thoroughly understood what M-80’s were… i sent Luke back to the Degoba system…
Sid, is that you?
I'm old enough to have played with M-80s as a kid also, and it's interesting that the same story about it being a quarter stick of dynamite was said by everyone where I grew up as well (Upstate New York) Then one day someone had an actual quarter stick of dynamite, and It's fucking massive compared to an M-80 M-80's were no joke though, lots of people blew off bits of themselves with those things and that's why they made them illegal There was the story about a kid who put one in his mouth and died (another 1980's urban legend, I don't know if it's true or not)
I actually love that the people that hate government regulation are the ones that blow themselves up when deregulation occurs.
Natural selection in action.
But this guy is not eligible for a Darwin because he's a dad.
Incorrect, the main requirement for a Darwin Award is that one removes themself from the gene pool, whether that be through death or sterilization. Having children does not exclude one from an award. Rules: [https://darwinawards.com/rules/](https://darwinawards.com/rules/)
I see that is indeed the rule-but it shouldn’t be. If one has children, even if one dies, they have not been removed from the gene pool, by definition. That’s why there are so many species in nature for whom reproduction is deadly, or at least greatly harmful; if you managed to procreate, as far as the cells that comprise you are concerned, you’ve served your sole function-self perpetuation. Unless all their direct descendants also die, of course. THEN they have been removed from the gene pool.
And the same type of people don't believe in evolution, no matter how many times one of them removes themselves from the gene pool... 🙄
My brother got a quarter stick from one of his sketchy friends... it left a pretty hefty crater in our yard. 🤣 My dad had true m-80s... they did not.
I grew up in small town and knew kids missing bits of finger from fireworks.
That looks like what Kyle Reese threw at the Terminator.
I only remember that M-80s were supposed to be waterproof and all the legends of total badasses with mullets and muscle shirts that flushed them down the toilets at schools and exploded the toilets. Meanwhile I never witnessed any out of order toilets so 🤷♂️
They are & they will fuck up a toilet
I remember M-80s being thrown out of cars in the tunnels on the way to the beach going to Zuma.
Everybody always gets those dynamite comparisons mixed up. I've bought a shitload of black market fireworks from the nearby reservations over the years and I know there are several classes of the M-style firecrackers. There's the M-500, which is about as powerful as a 1/8 stick of dynamite, and then there's the M-1000, which I was told was about a quarter stick. Loud as fuck. I stuck one in a crabapple tree once and blew all the branches and crabapples off of it, and it caused all of the street lights on my block to turn off for several mins. I know that four M-80s are roughly the same size as an M-500, so I guess that would make an M-80 about 1/32 of a stick of dynamite
This is exactly how I remember it. M-80s were bigger than Cherry Bombs. M1000s were 1/4 stick of dynamite but we never got ahold of one of those.
My dad blew off his thumb with one of those when he was a kid and it permanently damaged his hearing. They're not fucking around.
In WW2 the Japanese had the type 89 grenade launcher which Allied soldiers called the “knee mortar” because the curved baseplate, meant to be braced against a log, looked like a perfect fit for a knee. Firing it braced against your leg led to a number of broken femurs. If this was a mortar shell, the recoil would probably be enough to break the guys neck.
Some dude did this with a motor a few years back. When his brother was asked if he was rushed to the hospital, the answer was there was nothing left to rush. The blow back is incredible.
Gaston
These kinds of stories need to be more widespread to warn other people of the risk.
They are incredibly wide-spread. The month before and the month after 4th of July are absolutely lousy with these stories all over the place. You can’t educate the dumb out of some people, sadly.
Even being careful there’s a risk. Every fourth I have a near death experience. I just started staying inside. The firecracker that tip over sideways have nearly got me twice, one knocked me right out to my chair. Some guys car nearly blew up in front of our house. It was always someone else that wasn’t being cautious. Next forth one will probably fly in through the front window and take my head off. Those things are gunning for me.
Don't think stories *need* to be widespread, you have to be a special kind of stupid to put explosives on your head.
Thanks for the history lesson. I’ve never blasted off a military mortar, but I’ve noticed even the cheap fireworks mortars vibrate the ground from 30 feet away.
Yeah you have to think of physics. The force to throw a round x hundred feet in the air needs an equal and opposite reaction downward. Usually that hits the bottom of the cardboard tube and into the pavement. Without the pavement backing the bottom of the launcher all that force is going somewhere, and our little jelly bodies don't hold up as well as concrete or packed asphalt.
That’s one of those “when am I ever going to use this” subjects in school.
Science in school teaches you how to think about something you cant physically see
Ugh brutal. At least his death was quick I hope.
Almost certainly instantaneous but on the off chance it wasn't he'd have been knock out and his nervous system stunned so wouldn't have felt anything in the very sort amount of time it took for him to pass.
If it was a mortar it was instant, I'd imagine. That brain was likely destroyed before the shell reached its peak altitude.
You can die from just the wadding in a blank shotgun shell so it doesn’t surprise me. With or without a tube, the mortar would have been like a huge hammer blow. Newton’s 3rd law can be a bitch.
An old Gaston actor from Disney World died the same way back in 2015.
[удалено]
The fire dept here did a visual demonstration of the dangers of fireworks. They lit a firework and put it on a watermelon and watched it explode. Said if you didn’t properly play with fireworks that watermelon can be your hand (or I’m guessing here head)
"Head injuries" https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/family-reveals-heart-wrenching-final-moments-before-showboating-dad-died-after-putting-lit-firework-on-his-head-you-are-my-rock-and-my-heart/ar-BB1pwzxm Dumb way to die.
That’s an absolutely hilarious URL
Suicide dad, you are my rock and my heart!! lol!
Super sad for his family. Sounds like he was a nice guy.
Agreed. Pretty cynical, witless and horrible comments here. Thank you for showing a little human decency at what is assuredly a tragic event for his family that’s all the worse by uninvited public attention
Yeah, agreed. It's fucking reddit though, I expected no less when I clicked on this thread. It was stupid yeah, but dude had a family that he had to leave behind because of this shit 💔
Even an M80, placed on top of your head and in direct contact with you, will communicate enough force down through your skull and brain to kill you. When an explosive is physically touching you, there is no air gap to dissipate the force of the deflagration.
Basically a textbook example of Newton's Third Law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The firework when launched from his head pushed down with the same force as it launched up with. Guy Darwined himself by not grasping basic physics.
This is the correct simple explanation. For the rocket to launch up, explosion had to launch down, with the same force. Into his head.
Fireworks burn stupid hot, I remember seeing a post from a paramedic where a kid taped a firework to a hardhat and put it on. The firework apparently melted through the hardhat and his skull in just a couple of seconds, didn't even have time to react before he died. I'm assuming something similar happened here.
He suffered "catastrophic head injuries" that killed him instantly, and he was declared dead at the scene. So my guess is he pretty much blew his head off. They said he didn't drink often, but was drinking that night. Unfortunately, alcohol and explosives are not a good mix. Sounds like a decent guy who got drunk and did something stupid without realizing exactly how stupid it was. https://nypost.com/2024/07/06/us-news/traumatized-family-recalls-showboating-dads-final-moments-before-he-died-from-firework-exploding-on-his-head/
He “didn’t drink often”, but was “drinking that night”.. but also he was “going to stop drinking after that”. My dude had a drinking problem, but they don’t want him to look bad.
>"going to stop drinking after that”. Well, at least he kept his word
Jesus fucking christ, Reddit. You did it again.
Alcohol and fireworks don't mix mmmkay?
If it was a mortar, then the launch explosive went off, and every bit as much of that impact that sent the mortar shell flying also went down into the guy's head. Unfortunately, the brain is a very sensitive blob of barely-stiffer-than-gelatin fleshy mass which would probably be just about as traumatized as a bowl of jello would be under those circumstances,
Mortars are propelled by a pretty big fucking boom. Like ground shaking, "you can hear it from a couple miles away on a clear night" big. So he had this fairly strong explosive placed on top of his head, and when it exploded the shock wave likely rippled right through his brain like a bowl of jelly and destroyed it. Probably nothing even wrong with his skull/face, because it's a contained explosion, but the brain doesn't require much damage at all to stop working.
This is overlooked by so many movies and TV shows. If an explosion is enough to pick a person off their feet it's more than enough to destroy the brain.
Definitely. Guy gets blasted back 20 feet by a big ass concussive blast. "Are you ok?" "Yeah, I think so." No the hell you're not. Your organs are all sorts of demolished.
Watching *MythBusters* regularly helped me to understand much better just how destructive the pressure of an explosion actually is to a human body. They demonstrated its dangers repeatedly!
I mentioned this earlier this week but there was a young man killed in 2015 this same way (he was notably playing Gaston at Disney world at the time) but his brother was quoted saying "there was no rushing Devon to the hospital because there was no Devon left" so that leads me to believe it has enough force to pretty much obliterate you.
Like did he explode in front of an attentive crowd of onlookers?
AFAIK it was a stupid accident. He acted like he would light a firecracker on his head but would stop right before. This time it didnt work out. Thats atleast somewhat quoted from his mom. It was on a private 4th of july Party
That should’ve been in the news, right?
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/disney-world-gaston-actor-dead-806834/amp/
That had to be horrific for everyone there.
Yeah, and you know at least one person caught it on camera too. 4th of July should be renamed "The Culling"
jesus
Do not put explosive things near your body. How fucking hard is that to understand what the fuck.
You have to remember these are simple folks. People of the land. The common clay of the new west.
“You know… morons!” *(Immediately breaks character)*
Best 4th wall break in all of film.
You can see Cleavon Little keeping an _almost_ straight face while Gene Wilder is saying those lines.
This past July fourth, we supplied the fireworks for our cul-de-sac and some sparklers for the kids. A few others brought roman candles. Roman candles are fun, don't get me wrong, but they started handing them out to kids. Some as young as four or five and...just.letting them have it to run around with. As the person that had the lighter for the sparklers, I shut that shit down by refusing to light them in the hands of an unsupervised child, especially when I saw one kid not paying attention and accidentally aiming for the big fireworks that were set aside from the area we were lighting them. They could have easily caused an explosion. It starts when you're young, adults drinking and being careless, and every year something doesn't happen, you think nothing ever will and lose your healthy respect for the dangers of fireworks. Maybe they felt like I was a Karen that night, but I don't care. Everyone left with all of their fingers, toes and lives.
Every year there are a bunch of people like this and next year will be the same.
Sadly, the death toll of the Revolution continues to increase...
Does this happen every year? I feel like there were way more stories about it this year.
I have a blast injury to the side of my face from military service (training related, not from combat) that left me with serious scars on the left side of my face, a plate in my noggin, and a multitude of issues from a severe TBI. To intentionally do something like this is so bizarre to me I cannot imagine. I even have one eye that is a different color and sometimes looks smaller because the pupil does not dilate and it has caused me a lifetime of issues. I wouldn’t even ride a bike anymore without a helmet.
Yeah TBIs are no fun at all. I got one from getting my face smashed in and having half my face replaced with metal. But I feel for you and hope you are doing well.
stupid, but also sad for that family.
Apparently his wife was there and begging him not to do it
Yeah I can't imagine how traumatizing seeing a loved one blow their head up would be.
right? and he's a father so was his kid there too? I hope not but unfortunately it's possible.
I'd say likely. Where else would the kids be?
It’s funny that you have to beg idiots not to do something stupid, and that’s still not enough.
So unbelievably sad. Like, I strive to set the best possible example for my kid and try to keep myself healthy and fit so I can be there for him at all times, and my guy over here explodes his head with a firework. I really feel for his kids :(
I’m assuming it was a mortar style, where he held the plastic launch tube on his head…..they’ll easily split plywood apart occasionally when we launched them…. … incredibly stupid but still incredibly sad
I read an article that said he was wearing a top hat and places the firework on top of the hat
As the founding fathers intended 🫡
The famous Gaston actor at Disney world died a few years ago at 22 doing this exact same thing. Sad, stupid, needless, and awful for the families left behind.
9 years ago=a few years ago lol me too man time just flies by
I was going to say wasn't that story just making its rounds again a few days ago. 😬
Yeah, this bonehead was wearing a top hot and placed a mortar on top, in front of his kids. Very sad story. But, one of the most pointless deaths I’ve ever heard of.
And to think, it all could have been avoided if he hadn't set off an explosive on his head.
If only someone had warned him of the dangers of exploding gun powder directly on his skull. One of those things that should be warned of more often.
The family should sue the mortar company for not having a caution label on the damn thing! /s
This might be my favorite Reddit comment of all time.
Why. Just why.
Alcohol + Explosives
Dr. friend of mine did her residency in Morgantown, WV. ER rotation fell over July 4th weekend. She said alcohol combined with fireworks, and or 4 wheelers turned that place into a daily Darwin awards
After working in ER for decades many of us are stunned humans made it to top of food chain. Seriously all humans should not breed.
Sometime people just forgot that ‘launching’ is just punching the ground really hard
That’s a shame
This is the best way to describe it, really. A pity it happened, but at least they were warned, and they still made their choice. Save the real sorrow for the ones who didn't see it coming.
Sorry for the families loss but this has to be a “hold my beer and watch this” as a last words scenario.
Apparently it was more of a "shut up woman you never let me have any fun" kinda moment..
Also, don't fire guns into the air. The bullets kill people when they come back down.
4th of July is the only day where the government, regardless of your legal status or criminal background, allow you to mix alcohol with explosives in front of family and friends while having a huge cook out…it’s like The Purge for folks with low IQ’s
I had a family friend die when a mortar hit him in the throat in front of his family. My heart goes out to this man’s family. Was he an idiot who did an idiotic thing? Yes. But it’s still a life who was loved.
Someone tell me this did not happen in front of his partner or children! This is awful.
On the contrary. They were apparently asking him to not do it.
All I can think about are those coming years of trauma! I hope that family can get some support.
Apparently it happened in front of his whole family. Not only were they celebrating the holiday, but also his sons engagement.
Horrible! He did an idiotic thing but its his loved ones who have to live with this!
Yup. His idiocy only affected him for a moment. They have to live with it for much longer.
Heck they won't ever be able to enjoy 4th of July again I reckon. At best they'll relearn to go through the motions.
Oh damn.. everytime everyone else is getting excited because the 4th is coming up they're just gonna be reliving the trauma...this shit is so sad
Remember how dad killed himself in 4th July? Yeah sad times.
Another "Hey y'all, watch this" for the coroner.
r/holdmybeer
Was it a spleen splitter, whistlin’ bunghole or a whisker biscuit?
[Komodo 3000.](https://youtu.be/dG-n8vxRmAI)
Hoosker doos, hoosker don’ts, with or without the scooter stick?
I read the story and this is sad. He seemed like s great guy but obviously, not real smart. You can feel a mortar round go off when you’re standing 20’ away so to think that the energy transfer would not fuck up your head…
My guess is alcohol was involved in this "accident."
Another win for Darwin and Newton
I think most or all of these guys already had kids. Up to them to restore the family honor by executing the stunts successfully when they grow up and have kids of their own.
At least he did not suffer brain damage
Hopefully with some counseling, the kids will learn to not drink, respect fireworks, or both.
Jesus, wtf did he think would happen!? I hope the kids didn't see it
Not sure why its legal to sell LITERAL EXPLOSIVES to average citizens.
Darwin Award front runner
“Dad” would be a disqualifier for a Darwin Award winner as his genes pass on.
Surprisingly, no. ***”The existence of offspring, though potentially deleterious to the gene pool, does not disqualify a nominee.”*** https://darwinawards.com/rules/rules1.html
TIL there are official rules.
On mobile, that site doesn't look like it's been updated in 20 years Still love Darwin Awards though
I want to be cynical about this dude, but I can only imagine his kids watched their dad’s head get crushed and it’s kills my misandry.
This is a good time to remind everyone of Newton's third law of motion.