Thursday, October 04, 2007

Every Headline Tells A Story, Don't It!

From my local paper, the News and Observer. A series of headlines. I have linked to the stories, but you can pretty much see where things are going:
First: Man Buys Smoker, Finds Human Leg Inside
Later....Leg Found in Smoker Held for Fame
Then....Owner, Finder of Severed Leg Both Want It
But.....Authorities Return Amuputated Leg to SC Man
Finally....Lost and Found Leg Tale Gets Uglier

If you want the gist of the thing, beyond the headlines:
Shannon Whisnant found a severed leg in a barbecue smoker.
Now, he wants to keep it in hopes of fame and money.

Whisnant plans to make his case personally today when John Wood, the Greenville, S.C., man who lost the leg in an airplane crash three years ago and stored it in a barbecue smoker, comes to Maiden to pick up his lost appendage.

Wood says they can meet, but he's not interested in using the leg to make quick cash.

"I just think it's despicable," he said. "I don't mind having the 15 minutes of fame, but I'm not looking to really profit off this thing."

The story of Wood's leg goes back to 2004 when it was shattered in a plane crash... Doctors tried to save the leg for eight months but had to amputate. Wood told them that when he died, he wanted to be buried a whole man and asked if they could ship the leg to him.

They obliged. The leg -- foot, ankle and most of the calf -- spent time in Wood's freezer until his electricity was cut off. Wood then hung it on a fence post in his front yard to dry.

He was later evicted from his home and spent time living in his van. His mother said she'd pay to store his belongings for a couple of months, but after that, the $42 payments were his responsibility.

The leg, carefully wrapped in paper and stored inside the smoker, went into storage. But Wood wasn't making the payments, and last Tuesday the owner of the storage facility included the smoker in a sale of items from people who got behind on their rent.
(emphasis added. i didn't want you to miss that part)

4 comments:

Shawn said...

...wait...which part is emphasized?

The whole damn thing could be, as this is one of the weirdest stories ever.

Shawn said...

ah. I was guessing it was "carefully wrapped in paper and stored inside the smoker"

Angus said...

no, i think it is: "hung it on a fence post in his front yard to dry"

I like the fact that it was the FRONT yard.....

Nathanael D Snow said...

I once knew a man with a wooden leg named Smith...