Good day all. This story came out the other day. It seems someone was so focused on his cellphone, he walked off a cliff.
The incident took place in San Diego the other day and made one Joshua Burwell a last minute entry into the Darwin Awards for 2015. Here are the details of what happened from Fox News:
A man who apparently fell to his death when he became districted by an electronic device at a popular San Diego scenic overlook was identified by authorities Sunday as a visitor from Indiana. Joshua Burwell, 33, of Sheridan, Ind., had gone to Sunset Cliffs, a popular spot to view the sunset, on Christmas Day. Fox 5 San Diego reported that Burwell had trouble finding parking at the site and had gotten out of his vehicle to search for a spot when he tumbled over the edge in front of horrified witnesses.
While I do offer my sympathies to the late Mr. Burwell’s family, when you are near a cliff in an area you aren’t familiar with, leave the damn phone alone, or STOP MOVING if you need to use it!
“Witnesses stated seeing someone distracted by an electronic device and he just fell over the edge,” San Diego Lifeguard Bill Bender told NBC San Diego. “(He) wasn’t watching where he was walking, he was looking down at the device in his hands.”
We’ve all see footage from cameras mostly in Asia, where someone is walking along, focused on that little screen and totally oblivious to the open manhole they promptly fall into, usually with tragic results. At least the people on site didn’t wait around for the lifeguards and police to arrive.
After Burwell fell, three people climbed down the rocks to help rescue him and render first aid. “They acted quickly, they found a way to get down the cliff,” Bender told NBC San Diego. “They put themselves at jeopardy … They administered CPR to the person in attempt to save a life.”
Thor Wilink, 13, rushed from his home to help when he heard screams and the yelling, NBC 7 reported. The boy heard someone yelling, “Help, please God, save me.”
“After that I heard ‘does anyone have rope and a (rappel), and I know because I go to Yosemite, so I grabbed that, went down to the cliffs, and started to untangle the rope,” he said.
Apparently, Mr. Burwell left behind a son.
NBC San Diego reported that Burwell’s mother, Sharyle, had posted a message on Facebook saying that her son had died while taking pictures. The post added that Burwell leaves behind a son.
Well, so much for the Darwin Award. To garner that one, you must not have reproduced. Granted, I am being harsh, but lets face facts. If Mr. Burwell was using his phone and wasn’t paying any attention to his surroundings, that was just asking for something bad to happen, and unfortunately, it did. Let that be a lesson to you. When you are moving around, leave the damn phone alone!
Thatisall
~The Angry Webmaster~
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