Bob Park And The Tree Limb That Fell On Him

Anyone who has read this blog for any considerable period of time would know that I adore reading Bob Park's weekly What's New column. In fact, I've called this as one of the earliest physics blog on the 'net. I don't necessarily agree with him on all issues, but I am glad that, finally, a physicist is finally going after and exposing some of the silliness that has been going on. So inevitably, he became my "hero" of some sort. I've also mentioned about one of his books "Voodoo Science" as a must read.

In any case, I was horrified back in 2000 to hear that he had this freak accident while jogging. It seems that originally, I thought that a tree fell on him or something, and he sustained a rather severe injury. I of course didn't know much more about the circumstances of the accident... till now. A news article reports that a woman jogging in the same wooded area as Bob Park's accident site was killed by a fallen tree limb! In covering the story, the news article also mentioned Bob Park's accident and interviewed him on the circumstances of the freak accident.

The freak accident in 2000 nearly killed Park, a physicist and writer who lives in College Park, Md. A pair of priests who happened upon him lying unconscious under the tree administered last rites, he later found out.

Oh, but it gets better!

Park, the 2000 tree-fall victim, understands that unlikely events will happen on occasion, such as a strange coincidence that took place the day he returned to the scene of his accident a year later.

"The story gets even more unbelievable," he said. He went to the exact place where he was struck, he said, and as he passed the broken-off trunk of the tree that nearly killed him, he passed two elderly men walking. "You know that tree fell on a guy last year," one of them said.

When Park said he was that man, one of the two began to tear up. It turned out they were the priests who found Park pinned under the tree and gave him last rites. They decided to throw him a champagne party to celebrate his survival.

What are the odds???!! :)

Still, I wonder if those two priests have had Bob Park's column and realized what his views on organized religion are! :)

Zz.