The Edmondson Blog

A woman in her forties was following a coastal footpath along the top of a cliff in Devon. Fencing was in place to protect people from falling, but this protective fencing was no match for the allure of a feather blown by the breeze... just out of reach. While chasing the feather, the woman climbed the fence, slipped, and fell 80 feet. She was airlifted to the hospital, but there was no cure for what ailed her - she died of head injuries the following day. (22 Feb 2009)

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Traffic was moving slowly on southbound I-95. Shawn had recently left a Pompano Beach bar, and now he was stuck in traffic. As the saying goes, you don't buy beer - you just rent it, and Shawn couldn't wait another moment to relieve himself. "I need to take a leak," he told his friends.

Traffic was deadlocked, so the waterlogged man climbed out, put his hand on the divider, and jumped over the low concrete wall ... only to fall 65 feet to his death. "He probably thought there was a road, but there wasn't," said a Fort Lauderdale police spokesman. The car was idling on an overpass above the railroad lines.

His mother shared her thoughts. "Shawn didn't do a whole lot for a living. He got along on his charm, just like his father." (12 April 2008, Florida)

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In another do-it-yourself project gone wrong, a 41-year-old diy-er attempting to demolish a large brick garden shed succeeded in his primary objective, but suffered collateral damage when the cement slab roof demolished him.

The unfortunate chap was alone on his property at the time. While one has to question the wisdom of undertaking a demolition project with no-one on hand in the event of a mishap, a neighbour happened to witness this mishap and immediately summoned help. Hydraulic rams and high pressure air bags were too late to stop fate. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. (30 April 2009, York)

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An electric shock made toast of municipal guard Arthur de Souza Coelho, 47. According to police reports, he had installed a tiny electric fence around his car to protect against the frequent robberies that occur in his neighbourhood in Belem, Para. Then (direct translation from Portuguese) "he forgot that he had left the fence on and he ended dying with the electric shock."(10 January 2010, Brazil)