Man dies after falling into US hot spring

What a way to go.Jeez.

Really sad, he was just a kid and I keep feeling some real trauma involved, just like one of my sons, and there are some accidents that aren't just hospital stays, just like that in a flash a young beautiful life can end so tragically.

So many people these days die while trying to take selfies in risky places, this may have been on of those lapses of judgment, never mind one overall. Sad nonetheless.

Of course, it's not a first time this has happened. There have been some rescues of people's dogs in the past by the owner ignoring the danger. In the following case, while a man didn't dissolve into the spring, it did cause his demise,

On 20 July 1981, 24-year-old David Allen Kirwan from La Canada, California, was driving through Yellowstone's Fountain Paint Pot thermal area with his friend Ronald Ratliff and Ratliff's dog Moosie. At about 1:00 P.M. they parked their truck to get out and take a closer look at the hot springs; Moosie escaped from the truck, ran towards nearby Celestine Pool (a thermal spring whose water temperature has been measured at over 200°), jumped in, and began Report Advertisement yelping.

Kirwan and Ratliff rushed over to the pool to aid the terrified dog, and Kirwan's attitude indicated he was about to go into the spring after it. According to bystanders, several people tried to warn Kirwan off by yelling at him not to jump in, but he shouted "Like hell I won't!" back at them, took two steps into the pool, and then dove head-first into the boiling spring.


Kirwan was indeed in very bad shape. He was blind, and when another park visitor tried to remove one of his shoes, his skin (which was already peeling everywhere) came off with it. He sustained third-degree burns to 100% of his body, including his head, and died the following morning at a Salt Lake City hospital. (Moosie did not survive, either.)

Source

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: Joneselius

You are right...I don't care about this person I never knew.

I don't know what to tell you...I am not wired to care about stupid people.

Feel really sorry for you, regression of consciousness. Start to resist this and grow understanding of others. I read this earlier and keep feeling his presence, and when that happens there is usually a lot of trauma. Also felt a message he wanted me to give his sister, that it wasn't her fault. A kid 1 year younger than my second oldest who may have goofed off too without realizing the danger, died in a lot of pain. Some of us have a big antenna, but I wouldn't trade it for a cold heart and lack of feeling. That's something you have to fight against. I just feel like Mom and he's one of my boys, that kind of association with people how they're all you're family comes to me all the time.

a reply to: Metallicus

I go up there every year at least once.

And I am dumbfounded at the people up there and the stupidity that is shown.

Time to load up another freezing bison calf people.

To add, every single walkway toward hot springs and guysers have a clear posting showing a kid falling into one, expressing the danger.

Pictographs designed to be understood by all languages that see it. But stupid is stupid sometimes.

And this poor kid was over 200ft off the path. 200ft!!

originally posted by: smirkley
And this poor kid was over 200ft off the path. 200ft!!

It was over 200 meters. A meter is larger than 3 feet.

So in essence he was over 600 feet off the path.

a reply to: Unity_99

I've had a LOT of similar feelings re students and counseling clients and others I've heard about. It can get intense. And, yes, I wouldn't trade it for a cold heart in a million years.

It has usually helped a lot in my work.

People are a little shocked when, after say 5-10 minutes I can kind of 'read their heart' that they really haven't shared all that much yet. But it can save time, if they aren't too freaked about it.

a reply to: FaunaOrFlora

True. Appreciate that.

a reply to: smirkley

I understand our incredulity at such stupidity.

However . . .

1. We have all done really stupid things at some point in our lives . . . or will. . . . hopefully not quite THAT stupid!

1.1 Humility is always in order.

2. Whenever there's say 100 or more people involved, at least one of them . . . and seemingly an increasing percentage of them . . . will do or say some super stupid things. It's a given. When 1,000 people are involved . . . one needs to start organizing folks to watch out for it--sometimes it seems to hit in waves. People need to be prepared to pick up the pieces--or at least protect the bystanders!

3. And, it does NOT seem to be limited to those less formally educated!

4. SOMETIMES "stupid" is in the eye of the beholder. That can be because of upbringing, language, culture or other significant differences that have nothing to do with IQ or common sense. Perspective can be very powerful.

5. The case of the bloke mentioned above diving in to save the dog. The bystanders probably tried hard to tell him he'd die or it was hot or some such. But the message clearly did not get through. Maybe they didn't say the critical key words for that particular person to "get it." I don't know if someone bigger standing by could have stood between him and the hot spring but it might have taken that to get through if his only "reality" was pool of water, dog drowning, dive-in-save him.

5.1 IF that was the only reality his brain was processing, that was the only reality his brain was processing. Breaking through to get his brain to take in the critical additional information was likely a very hard thing to do in the critical seconds involved.

6. I'd hate to see the day when there had to be 2" of Lexan between all the tourists and the sights to see. Sigh.

7. I worked at the Grand Canyon one summer. Many vistas are deliberately without walls. And periodically, someone will ignore all the cautionary signs and pay with broken legs or their lives. Personally, I'm glad we don't try and wall off every inch of the Canyon rim. But the lost lives are still quite tragic.

8. And, yeah, for some, there's little to no cure for stupid. Particularly that which stems from arrogance--at least not usually without some high costs involved to the stupid person.

originally posted by: FaunaOrFlora

originally posted by: smirkley
And this poor kid was over 200ft off the path. 200ft!!

It was over 200 meters. A meter is larger than 3 feet.

So in essence he was over 600 feet off the path.

That's a LOT OF BULL-HEADEDNESS!

Sheesh.

How old was this kid?

Terrible way to die.

originally posted by: BO XIAN

originally posted by: FaunaOrFlora

originally posted by: smirkley
And this poor kid was over 200ft off the path. 200ft!!

It was over 200 meters. A meter is larger than 3 feet.

So in essence he was over 600 feet off the path.

That's a LOT OF BULL-HEADEDNESS!

Sheesh.

How old was this kid?

23. So no simpathy here.

And I do fancy myself a empath. But not in this case. Sorry.

Just as I don't feel sorry for someone playing with a gun and shooting themselves dead (happened to a neighbor of mine).

Sorry.

a reply to: tommo39

Let's see if we can make the link clickable:

www.news.com.au...

a reply to: BO XIAN

In reply to point 5.

Stupid is taking your yappy couch house dog to yellowstone is another form of ignorance. It is the wild up there. Animals eat animals for dinner. Humans if able. And dogs are nice kibble.

Dogs like to chase animals they arent familiar with. And humans like to think their little fido will respond to the command "come", when in the land of the wilder animals domain.

Some people would jump in front of a speedy train to protect their lassie or fido. I dont blame them. But again, my dog stays home when we travel.

Well that's a horrible way to die. What was that idiot thinking? Hot springs at Yellowstone are not like hot baths at home.

a reply to: TerryDon79

You wouldn't drink a bottle of bleach. You wouldn't put a knife into a plug socket. You wouldn't jump off the Empire State Building to check if gravity worked. Warning labels, signs and barriers are there for reasons. Ignore them and you have to expect something to happen.

This doesn't compare. The above things are guaranteed to cause you harm, without a doubt.

His sister did the same thing and she is alive.

originally posted by: SemperFried
a reply to: TerryDon79

You wouldn't drink a bottle of bleach. You wouldn't put a knife into a plug socket. You wouldn't jump off the Empire State Building to check if gravity worked. Warning labels, signs and barriers are there for reasons. Ignore them and you have to expect something to happen.

This doesn't compare. The above things are guaranteed to cause you harm, without a doubt.

His sister did the same thing and she is alive.

You won't necessarily die if you drink a bottle of bleach, put a knife in a plug socket or jump off the Empire State Building either. There's a pretty big risk that you will though.

a reply to: Lysergic

originally posted by: Lysergic
Darwin Achievement Unlocked.

I won't go that far. Sometimes its tempting to take a risk to have a unique experience.

Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: TerryDon79
You wouldn't put a knife into a plug socket.

Wellllllllllll.

lol!! I haven't done it a second time!

Woke me right up.

There were like 5 people died trying to swim across a hot spring. It was a group!

A few years ago, IIRC.

I worked at a place with some small natural hot springs in WY, and we had 2 guys die in it at the same time.

They were older, tho.


But this dude was just SOL.

a reply to: AngryCymraeg

Was up there a couple weeks ago for 5 days. It was awsome.

I took with me one of those handheld laser temperature devices.

The hot spring and geyser temps averaged 100 to 200 F.

The odd thing was, the more dynamic the spring, the lower the temp. The more docile the water, the hotter the temp.