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Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: Sep 20, 2012 6:30 pm
by Squirrel Girl
This didn't occur in a cave, but is probably of interest to cavers:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man- ... FukJd1lQ3g

A 74-year-old man was found dead after spending a night hanging upside down on his climbing ropes at Zion National Park, the park superintendent said Thursday.
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Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: Sep 20, 2012 11:04 pm
by Chads93GT
Well, that is an interesting way to be done in. Sorta like that guy who hung himself with his helmet chin strap when he got stuck in a pit climb.......

Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: Sep 21, 2012 7:06 am
by Carl Amundson
Damn, what a shame.
It sounds like a lot of things went wrong here.
Hypothermia probably killed him before harness-hang.
Hosobuchi appeared to be pinned by the force of rushing water, park spokesman Alyssa Baltrus said.

Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: Sep 21, 2012 11:20 am
by Stridergdm
To be clear, in my VERY untrained medical opinion, the mechanism of injury here is completely different from what is often referred to as "harness hang syndrome".

It's not entirely clear what happened, but it sounds like he was head down in the waterfall.

So as Junkman points out, it's very likely hypothermia was the real killer. If that's not the case, it is more likely that being head down for so long increased intracranial pressure.

What we normally think of as "harness hang syndrome" is more likely due to reduced blood flow to the brain. I refer to Dr. Mortimer's piece for those who have not read it. (And if you're lucky and can hear him talk about it, all the better.)

Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: Sep 21, 2012 4:25 pm
by Squirrel Girl
Yeah, I guess the title I put on probably made it seem more like a death directly attributable to the harness hang. Who knows. *Maybe* the autopsy would tell. However, it does seem that there could be a lot of factors, including the harness hang affecting his ability to function enough to extract himself.

Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: May 2, 2013 9:00 pm
by Shane S
Where was his top side contact I wonder. Or did he have any. always a good idea.

Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: May 3, 2013 7:39 am
by graveleye
can you check that link? It doesn't take you to the story anymore.

Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: May 3, 2013 11:33 am
by Squirrel Girl
graveleye wrote:can you check that link? It doesn't take you to the story anymore.


There's nothing I can do about a news agency that takes their stories down after a period of time. But a quick google search gives several more links to the story:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/nov ... ent/nSHZQ/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/ut ... .html?_r=0

http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/09 ... ional-park

Re: Harness hang death - not in a cave

PostPosted: May 5, 2013 9:11 pm
by hank moon
No harness hang syndrome was involved here. The man (Yoshio Hosobuchi) became stuck after his autoblock jammed in the descender. He tried to free himself by cutting the harness waistbelt, and ended up inverted in the waterfall, suspended by one foot caught in a harness leg loop. He died while hanging like that. I can't remember if there was a definitive cause of death announced.