Uhhhh, huh huh huh huh, there you are.
Posted on 04/11/2008 12:38:34 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
LONGWOOD, Fla. -- A 15-year-old Seminole County boy died on Thursday when a barbell apparently fell on his neck while he was lifting weights alone at his home, authorities said.
Elie Khoury, who attended Seminole High School, was working out in the back of his home, located at 208 Cambridge Drive in Longwood, at about 9:40 p.m. when a barbell apparently fell on top of his neck, deputies said.
A Seminole County sheriff's deputy responding to a 911 call said he found Joseph Khoury, Elie's father, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his son, who could not be revived.
Grief counselors were at Seminole High School, located at 2701 Ridgewood Ave. in Sanford, on Friday to assist students trying to cope with Khoury's death.
Very sad. We all make mistakes, especially at age 15. His poor family.
lifting weights by yourself is foolish.
We obviously need to regulate barbells and who can use them.
Prayers for the family, especially the father. I can’t imagine the fear and panic of doing CPR on your child, and failing to revive him.
This is every weightlifter’s nightmare. Never use free weights without someone to spot you.
Very sad story — prayers for the family.
Tragic. What a dreadful shame.
Alas, it seems so. When my son was this age, I bought a BowFlex. I was well-aware of this type of accident. Your kid can swear up and down that s/he won't use the weights w/o a spotter, but shite happens. I thought a BowFlex, with its system of rods rather than weights, was a better choice. Prayers for the family.
We need comprehensive dumb bell legislation which includes tax on dumbbells and licensing of dumbbells users.
That way, children will be safe from dumbbells.
I was lucky once when I lifted freeweights alone. I tried one too many reps, and it went down to the chest. Luckily I didn't have stoppers and "unbalanced" the weight off. If I didn't have the stoppers, I would have been in a bad way. I learned from that, and am glad I lifting reps not for power then.
Prayers to the family. Very sad story.
Smart move.
We seem to need to regulate who can post.
Can you imagine, finding your son in repiratory distress? Fighting like hell to save his life, while you cry for help?
Nah, I guess you would be looking at the barbells.
Uhhhh, huh huh huh huh, there you are.
Prayers.
Most bench press benches are simply NOT safe to use alone, you need safety catch bars on each side.
I know someone who lost a son about a year ago to a weightlifting accident exactly like this. The youth was alone at home with no one to help. His father discovered him pinned under the barbell, but it was already too late. Tragedies seem even more senseless when, like these, they can be easily avoided. I agree with the poster who recommends Bowflex as a safer alternative.
Depends on what exercises, how much weight and experience of lifter.
Sounds like all three were a factor here.
Very sad.
I once was told by a coach that I should never lift weights alone, but if I did, I should not use collars (there are spring things now to hold the weight on the bar) so you can dump the weights off. However, I've seen guys power lifting and hurt themselves badly enough that I don't know if they could have crawled out and found help fast enough. This is terrible, and I know that poor planning could have landed me in the same place when I was younger. Supervised weightlifting is great for high school and college aged kids, but unsupervised weightlifting can lead to injuries, and lifting without a spotter can very likely kill you.
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