?:reviewBody
|
-
Originally making the cyberspace rounds in mid-1997, a fancifully-embellished cautionary tale has been enshrined as one of the Internet's Darwin Awards. Though the story was often identified as an article from the 15 August 1993 Japan Times, we found no evidence that news outlet ever published it: As humorous as this bit of scarelore was, it fell down upon closer examination for multiple reasons: The tone of indignant moral outrage is common to such offerings; it works to highlight the humor of the situation as we find ourselves laughing even as the ubiquitous cartoonish spokesman heatedly expounds upon the latest threat to Society. We're also captured by the obligatory mental picture of the lad's inglorious yet pyrotechnic end. (One woman thought she was watching a twilight firework display, and started clapping.) As unbelievable as this story is, it appears to be a fanciful embellishment of the 1993 death of Charnchai Puanmuangpak of Thailand. Though the 13-year-old did die from a punctured intestine brought about by compressed air being forced into his rectum, he was killed by others; there was no element of a death brought about by self-gratification gone wrong. The real Charnchai Puanmuangpak died when two of his 15-year-old co-workers at the gas station carried a prank too far. These older lads were in the habit of turning the compressed air upon Charnchai when they found him napping. Finding him deeply asleep, this time they inserted the nozzle into his bum. The boy died before reaching the hospital, and the two lads who inserted the hose were charged with carelessness resulting in death. A similar act of battery carried out upon a 13-year-old boy in Dezhou city (Shandong province), China, on 30 June 2012 left the unfortunate teen barely clinging to life. Two of Du Chuanwang's co-workers at the gas station where they all worked inserted the nozzle of an air pump hose into the youngster's anus then blew air through it, in the process damaging Du's liver, kidneys, and stomach and causing massive bleeding within the abdomen. Following a charity appeal, the boy was moved from a local hospital (Xiajin County People's Hospital) to the far better equipped Bayi Children's Hospital in Beijing.
(en)
|