A 62-YR.-OLD MICHIGAN MAN IS HOSPITALIZED this week after his makeshift rocket sled blew him up on Saturday. The unidentified Oakland County man has a sledding party behind his house every year and each time he tries a different stunt.
This year he decided to play Rocket Man, dressing up with a motorcycle helmet, a garbage bag cape, and a backpack designed to propel him along on his plastic sled-board. His backpack contained an automobile tailpipe that he had packed with a mixture of gunpowder, gasoline, and match heads with a wick sticking out of it.
As he got ready to shove off down the hill, he had somebody light the wick and then he started downhill. Within a few seconds the device exploded, leaving him with 2nd-degree burns over his upper body and face, with some possible eye damage.
Oakland County Sheriff photo
The sheriff’s spokesman added that the man had been drinking before the incident as well. “Apparently, he has this sledding party every year, and he always does outrageous things at it, but he’s never blown himself up before,” the deputy said.
The Detroit Free Press has the STORY.
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