Man dies after jumping into icy river to retrieve cell phone

[Plutonic Panda]

It's happened before. It will likely happen again, sadly.

A 26-year-old man -- said to be from Minnesota -- was walking along the Chicago Riverwalk on Sunday night when he dropped his cell phone into the icy water.

As CBS Chicago reports, he clambered over the railing in order to get it back.

Instead, he fell into the water and got into trouble.

Two friends, a 23-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, jumped in after him.

Divers were called. They managed to get the two men out of the water, but the woman is missing, presumed drowned.

The man who had dropped the cell phone died in the hospital. The friend who jumped in to save him is said to be in critical condition.

Very sad, one person dead, another missing(likely dead), and a third in critical condition.

This has happened before though. Another part to the story.

Last year, a man was killed by an oncoming train in the Bronx after jumping onto the subway tracks to search for his dropped cell phone.

In another case, again in New York, a man was electrocuted after jumping onto the tracks.

The whole story here: Man dies after jumping into icy river to retrieve cell phone | Technically Incorrect - CNET News

[Roger S]

Sounds like natural selection kicking in and doing it's job to protect the gene pool to me.

[MadMonk]

First Darwin Award candidate of the year? At least the woman who (presumably) died was trying to save a life, not a piece of easily-replaced electronics.

[kelroy55]

I won't even dig mine out of the toilet let alone an icy river. Why I pay insurance and have backups.

[OKCisOK4me]

What a dumbass...

[MustangGT]

Darwin nominee.

[Servicetech571]

Think they will let him out of his contract?

[Martin]

"If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let 'em go, because man, they're gone." -jack handey

[kevinpate]

Some things you just do not chase. keys in icy rivers, utensils in running garbage disposals, hats in pit latrines ... all are in or near the top five.

[Plutonic Panda]

The Things We Do To Retrieve Our Phones | Tosh.0 Blog

[Mel]

Ha! Got another one.

[Plutonic Panda]

Mel, get your meme back out because here we go again :facepalm:

Woman drops cell phone in toilet, two die in rescue attempt

"It's only a phone," is an argument that is constantly lost on those who fear they've lost their phones.

In the latest tragic incident, a woman in Xinxiang city, Henan, China dropped her phone when she went to an open-pit toilet.

It fell into a cesspit.

The phone was brand new. As the South China Morning Post reports, it cost 2,000 yuan (around $320).

First her husband jumped in. He was overcome by the fumes. His mother also jumped in. When she encountered breathing difficulties, the woman's whose phone it was jumped in too.

The waste was reportedly only knee-deep. However, despite rescue attempts by neighbors, both the woman's husband and his mother died.

The tragedy unfolded in five minutes.

This isn't the first fatality associated with attempting to retrieve a cell phone.

- Woman drops cell phone in toilet, two die in rescue attempt - CNET

[Just the facts]

Open pit toilet and cell phones. It appears to me China skipped a few important steps in their development.

[zookeeper]

I hate to play the party pooper here. But natural selection may be going backwards when it comes to love and compassion for our fellow travelers on the planet.

These are all stories about people, human beings, who died.

I think it's sad, all of these, and fail to see the humor. What's happening to us, when we can laugh and joke at how people died? It seems almost too easy to laugh and poke fun from the comfort of our homes, hopefully free of tragedy and wrong-headed decisions.

[Just the facts]

I hate to play the party pooper here. But natural selection may be going backwards when it comes to love and compassion for our fellow travelers on the planet.

These are all stories about people, human beings, who died.

I think it's sad, all of these, and fail to see the humor. What's happening to us, when we can laugh and joke at how people died? It seems almost too easy to laugh and poke fun from the comfort of our homes, hopefully free of tragedy and wrong-headed decisions.

While the loss of life is tragic, especially over something so trivial as a cell phone, I think the China story paints an even worse picture of the world we live in. In China's race to modernization they literally did skip 200 years worth of human evolution, advancement, and understanding. They have high speed rail but not running water. Their entire modern society is built on a foundation of sand and yet, China is seen as the way of the future. It boggles the mind.

[Plutonic Panda]

While the loss of life is tragic, especially over something so trivial as a cell phone, I think the China story paints an even worse picture of the world we live in. In China's race to modernization they literally did skip 200 years worth of human evolution, advancement, and understanding. They have high speed rail but not running water. Their entire modern society is built on a foundation of sand and yet, China is seen as the way of the future. It boggles the mind.

In Dubai, they don't have a central sewage system.

[Plutonic Panda]

I don't really think it's funny. I thinks it's incredibly disappointing. Now this isn't really as bad as the guy who dove into an icy river or the guy who jumped onto subway tracks to get their cellphones, but still. It's almost as it is becoming an impulsive reaction. I almost guarantee you if the guy who dove into the icy water just took 15secs to think about was he doing, he likely wouldn't have jumped.