A Darwin award candidate — and life imitates the Simpsons

An Israeli man just didn’t get lucky.  First, he lost his foot when he stepped on a land mine.  Then, when he was within feet of being hauled into the rescue helicopter, he fell to the ground, and subsequently died.

I have to admit to being a little less sorry about his death — and aware that he was definitely a candidate for the Darwin Award — when I learned that the man deliberately ignored myriad warning signs to go for a picnic in minded area.  Despite that, brave military rescuers put their own lives at risk by spending an agonizing 90 minutes crawling their way through the mine field themselves in order to reach and stabilize him.

All of that aside, when I read the description of what happened, I couldn’t help put think of the Simpsons.  First, the news story:

The 24-year-old had earlier been treated by medical teams on the ground after they spent 90 minutes making their way through the minefield.

Once strapped in to a harness, Israeli Air Force rescuers began to hoist him into the cockpit.

But somehow he slipped and after, being picked up for a second time, died later died from his injuries en route to the hospital.

And now, a description of the finale to the famous Simpson’s episode “Bart the Daredevil.” In that episode, Bart, inspired by an Evil Knievel type character, decides to skate across Springfield Gorge:

Even after a punishment, several orders, and a “heart-to-heart talk” with Homer, Bart still goes to the gorge and tries to jump it. He is stopped at the last second by Homer, who angrily resolves to jump the gorge himself to show Bart what it’s like to see a family member needlessly risk their life for no good reason. Bart, not wanting to see his father get injured (or possibly die) on his account, recants his wish to jump the gorge, and promises he will never try to be a daredevil again. He and Homer reconcile, but Homer is still on the skateboard which rolls down and flies over the gorge by itself, with him on board. Although he becomes airborne, Homer loses momentum and plummets into the gorge.

A helicopter winches Homer out, slamming his head against the side of the gorge several times in the process before he is loaded into a waiting ambulance. Mere seconds after driving away, however, the ambulance crashes into a tree and the gurney carrying Homer falls out of the back, and Homer once again falls to the floor of the canyon, being hit on the head by the gurney.