Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire! 2006 Darwin Award Nominee
(April 17, 2006, England)
There’s always someone who thinks good advice does not apply to him. For example, if a doctor advises that the one thing you must not do is go near a flame, as you are going to be covered with a flammable material, most people would take this advice, and not strike a match until the flammable material has been removed.
However, Phillip, a 60-year-old Londoner, thought he knew better than his doctor. Philip was in the hospital to treat a skin disease. The treatment consisted of being smeared in a paraffin-based cream. Philip was warned that the cream could ignite, so he definitely should NOT smoke. But he just could not live without that cigarette.
Smoking was not permitted anywhere in the hospital, but Philip took this rule in stride and sneaked out onto a fire escape. Once he was hidden, he lit up…inhaled… and peace descended as he obtained his nicotine fix. Things went downhill after he finished his cigarette – at the very moment he ground out the butt of it with his heel.
The paraffin cream had been absorbed by his skin and consequently, had been absorbed by his clothing. As his heel touched the butt of his cigarette, fumes from his pajamas ignited. The resulting inferno “cremated” his skin, and left first-degree burns on much of his body.
