# I can't decide if this is funny or if I'm just a sicko. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 18, 2001, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454 "2001-03-18T06:43:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/1 "2001-03-18T06:43:11Z")
I just read this at the Darwin Awards site and I was laughing so hard that I think I pulled a muscle in my side. > [@](#): > > Every home needs a handyman for those essential home remodeling tasks. But not every homeowner knows how to get the job done, so professionals are sometimes called in to help. Enter William, 25, whose employer sent him to the home of a Bethlehem man to help renovate the basement. > > William was using a portable miter saw that requires quite a bit of concentration. When our hero’s attention slipped, so did the saw, which sliced off his hand at the wrist. As if losing a limb weren’t bad enough, the injured man proceeded to shoot himself in the head a dozen times with a pneumatic nail gun in an attempt to end his misery. > > The homeowner ventured downstairs to check on the remodeling, but found the basement empty. He was about to leave when his dog discovered William whimpering in the corner, nails protruding from his scalp. > > The owner of the company arrived at the scene, located the missing limb, wrapped it in a clean plastic sandwich bag, and sent it with William to the hospital > > At least a dozen 1-1/2 inch nails were removed from William’s head at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fountain Hill, and the severed hand was reattached. I actually had tears going down my cheeks while reading this. However, it’s actually a sad and pretty horrifying story. What does this say about my sense of humor, I wonder? I mean poor guy, yeah, but he was trying to commit suicide with a nail gun for crying out loud! ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/2 "2001-03-18T07:00:18Z")
That’s technology for you,Air.When I was young anyone wanted to commit suicide had to use a hammer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/3 "2001-03-18T07:06:34Z")
I don’t think it’s funny at all. Strange and infathomable how he could do that multiple times, but not funny. The poor guy must have been in so much pain and shock he was beyond rational thinking. I read this and wondered–why didn’t he go for help? Very sad.☹ ---
**Author:** ![activgurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@activgurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/activgurl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/4 "2001-03-18T14:38:44Z")
That’s kinda funny. When I read the article a couple of weeks ago, I wondered why he didn’t just nail his hand back on his arm. ---
**Author:** ![andyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@andyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andyman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/5 "2001-03-18T15:28:39Z")
I guess he hasn’t discovered the wonders of duct tape. ---
**Author:** ![BornDodgy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@BornDodgy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BornDodgy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/6 "2001-03-18T18:26:09Z")
I feel like a bad person too now… thank you… 🙂 at least it ended well. dodgy ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/7 "2001-03-18T18:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andyman \* > \*\*I guess he hasn’t discovered the wonders of duct tape. \*\* Spoken like a true 'andyman. Incidentally, it’s freaking hard to accidentally cut your hand off with a mitre saw, at least any mitre saw that was built in the past 20 or 30 years. A finger or two, yes, but a hand? You really have to be working impaired (drunk or incredibly tired) to manage that. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/8 "2001-03-18T18:33:32Z")
Sometimes sick stuff is funny. I feel for this guy though. He must have just been insane with pain. ---
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/9 "2001-03-18T18:53:45Z")
It is funny and you are a sicko. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/10 "2001-03-18T19:39:13Z")
_This_, on the other hand, > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by activgurl \* > \*\*When I read the article a couple of weeks ago, I wondered why he didn’t just nail his hand back on his arm. \*\* I like. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/11 "2001-03-18T19:40:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I feel like a bad person too now… thank you… I was hoping I wasn’t the only one Dodgy! 😉 > [@](#): > > It is funny and you are a sicko. That’s kind of what I figured. ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/12 "2001-03-18T19:41:38Z")
I first read this on CNN or USA Today, I forget which, and I found it pretty amusing. What made it hilarious to me was that he had said that he stopped shooting the nails into his head because by the time he’d put the 12th nail in, it was starting to hurt too much to do it anymore. The story itself wasn’t much more than amusing, but the visual image I had of the whole thing was a riot! So if you are sick Airbeck, I’m going to the funny house right along with you. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/13 "2001-03-18T19:59:03Z")
Yeah, that’s the thing. I know that it is a horrible story, but the visual I get from it is just too much. It’s kind of like the guy from The Breakfast Club thinking about attemting suicide with a flare gun. Suicide = serious. Flare gun = funny. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-decide-if-this-is-funny-or-if-im-just-a-sicko/58454/14 "2001-03-18T21:54:59Z")
The story I read on this said that he shot himself with the nailgun to try to kill the pain of the severed hand rather than because he was trying to kill himself. I’d find it funny if it weren’t true.