NZ Darwin Award

[Carl 3]

You've got to read this Darwin award nomination

Cut and paste:

Screams filled the air as a Marlborough teenager lay dying after an LPG cylinder his friends were inhaling from exploded in the back of their car.

Described as a "primo fellow" by friends, Thomas Hillman's death on Monday, after someone lit a cigarette in the car, has prompted warnings from police and anti-drug groups on the dangers of teen experimentation with hazardous substances.

The other four teenagers in the car during the 9.30pm accident in Blenheim suffered minor flash burns, but Hillman, 18, a construction worker, of Picton, suffered fatal heat-inhalation injuries.

Witnesses described a bang that was followed by screams as more young people arrived.

The Marlborough police acting area commander, Senior Sergeant Tony Sampson, said some of the five teenagers, aged 16 to 18, had been inhaling gas from a 9kg bottle inside a car parked in Howick Road.

"It appears that an attempt to light a cigarette in the vehicle a short time later may have caused the explosion," he said.

Hillman had been with the group only briefly and it was unclear whether he had inhaled gas, Sampson said.

Police and ambulance officers performed CPR at the scene, followed by a sustained but unsuccessful effort by Wairau Hospital staff to save Hillman's life.

Sampson said details on the gas inhalation were released as a public-safety measure, and the case would be heard in more detail at an inquest.

Substance abuse involving flammable gases was an extremely dangerous practice, Sampson said.

Hillman's family declined to comment yesterday.

A friend and former Queen Charlotte College classmate, Corey Winther, said he was gutted when he heard the news.

"He was a primo fellow; cool as.

"He loved his rugby and I played in the First 15 with him. I was pretty gutted," he said.

Hillman left the college midway through last year to work for construction company Crafar Crouch.

College principal Tom Parsons said Hillman had a sister at the school and five members of the family had attended Queen Charlotte.

Students had made a card for family members and the school was offering its counselling service to them and to students affected by the death.

An assembly had been held to inform students.

Several students were upset by the accident, Parsons said.

The college had an extensive drug education programme, and ignorance was no excuse for students.

"School health programmes are such that there are no students in New Zealand unaware of the dangers of huffing, sniffing, injecting – you name it," Parsons said.

The chief executive of national addiction-treatment provider Care NZ, Tim Harding, said LPG was just another substance to add to the list.

Experimenting with a dangerous gas like LPG could be put in the youthful-misadventure category.

"The tragedy of this is there are youths who will try all sorts of stupid things," he said.

New Zealand Drug and Alcohol Foundation executive director Ross Bell said inhaling LPG was uncommon, but there had been at least two deaths.

An Ashburton teenager died in August last year after sniffing gas from a barbecue gas bottle. There was a similar case in Wellington.

Bell said young people experimenting with substances was difficult to deal with because they were often people who would not normally be identified as a risk.

"Monday's accident was different because he had died from the explosion rather than the gas itself," he said.

Edited November 1, 2006 by Carl

[Palazzo 453]

Seconded, I heard this yesterday and couldn't stop laughing at the sheer stupidity.

[Guest Spargo]

Cut and paste from your cache please? Stuff has taken it down.

[jpp 0]

'Twas about those twats who were sniffing LPG in a car, someone as a result died when someone lit a ciggie.

[ED1RTY 2]

Seen this in the herald today, f**king dickwads... i mean LPG cumon i can think if better things to get a Euphoric feeling... BZP FTW

[Carl 3]

Updated with cut and paste

Smoking kills

[Jazzbass 1]

Still more proof that smoking kills!!

[cainchapman 0]

Justice was served!

Was that the Marlboro police? or Marlborough.

[kiwi535 538]

tragic but stupid...what a waste..

[ThreeOneEight 0]

Really morbidly funny. The stupid are outbreeding the smart by more than two to one (stupid people have kids before they are thirty), so I don't mind if they have a little setback.

[kerrynzl 3]

From what I've just read,

Thomas Hillman just raised the average Intelligence Quotient of New Zealand when he died