I can't help but laugh at this

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An unemployed Austrian man who feared his jobless benefits would be cut off has sawn off his foot and thrown the remains in a furnace in a bid to render himself ineligible for work.

Hans Url, 56, was due to undergo a medical examination after job centre staff challenged his claim that he was too sick to work, the Daily Mail reports

Mr Url reportedly waited until his wife and son left his home in Mitterlabill, southern Austria, on Monday and placed his leg on a circular saw, severing it above the ankle.

Before calling an ambulance, Mr Url threw his foot in a furnace to eliminate any chance the appendage could be reattached.

Paramedics arrived to find Mr Url near death from loss of blood.

Mr Url was then airlifted to Graz where he was in a stable condition following emergency surgery to seal the wound.

The next day he was transferred to the psychiatric unit of the hospital in Graz.

His wife Monika told an Austrian newspaper her husband had expressed regret over the incident.

"He apologized to me and told me how sorry he was," Ms Url said.

"He wants to work, but gets nothing suitable … my husband felt so worthless."

Mr Url has been unemployed, with brief stints of work, since 2003.

In 2010 he spent 11 days in a Graz psychiatric unit.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8442586/man-cuts-off-foot-in-bid-to-avoid-work

I know it is not funny to laugh at other peoples misfortune or at people with a disability but he did this to himself so he could still get unemployment benefits, work is work you have to take when is on offer even if it is flipping burgers.

Me laughing at this must mean I am sadistic.
 
Well he isn't fit to work if he has done something like this and I think the trip back to the psychiatric unit is very much needed.
 
He could still be a clerk in some shop. Get off your arse and do something.
 
This is what happens when we become to reliant on government (With a slight absence of common sense).
 
haitch40
Man that must have hurt how did he manage to do it all?

IKR? :dunce:

I can't imagine how I would ever manage to do something like this to myself. Maybe I'm weird but I really don't find this one but funny at all. It's more sad than anything.
 
IKR? :dunce:

I can't imagine how I would ever manage to do something like this to myself. Maybe I'm weird but I really don't find this one but funny at all. It's more sad than anything.

Yes it isn't funny at all, he obviously has some serious mental health issues and that shouldn't really be joked about.
 
The fact that you find this funny and can't stop laughing about it says a lot about you as a person.
A desperate man almost kills himself, albeit unintentionally, and it's a joke to you?
Would you have laughed even harder if he had acctually died before the paramedics got there?
 
The fact that you find this funny and can't stop laughing about it says a lot about you as a person.
A desperate man almost commit suicide, albeit unintentionally, and it's a joke to you?
Would you have laughed even harder if he had acctually died before the paramedics got there?

If he'd have died it would have almost certainly been a Darwin Award. Thankfully for his and his family's sakes, he didn't. He can still work. But maybe he needs to be admitted to the psychiatric unit for a few more days.
 
ASH32
Yes it isn't funny at all, he obviously has some serious mental health issues and that shouldn't really be joked about.

Vegard
The fact that you find this funny and can't stop laughing about it says a lot about you as a person.
A desperate man almost kills himself, albeit unintentionally, and it's a joke to you?
Would you have laughed even harder if he had acctually died before the paramedics got there?

I agree 100%.

It seems like I am in the minority of my generation when it comes to stuff like this.
 
I agree 100%.

It seems like I am in the minority of my generation when it comes to stuff like this.

I am also in agreement. Things as serious as this shouldn't be joked about.
 
He felt worthless, so he tried to do something about it that happened to be a good decision. How is that funny?

Is it funny when someone attempts suicide when they feel worthless? When they succeed, do they deserve a Darwin award?

When people are desperate, they do desperate things. When people feel desperate, possibly wrongly as a result of psychiatric issues, they also do desperate things. He didn't cut off his foot on a whim; he felt it was what he needed to do. If that's more funny than sad, I can't imagine what is sad.
 
dylansan
He felt worthless, so he tried to do something about it that happened to be a good decision. How is that funny?

Is it funny when someone attempts suicide when they feel worthless? When they succeed, do they deserve a Darwin award?

When people are desperate, they do desperate things. When people feel desperate, possibly wrongly as a result of psychiatric issues, they also do desperate things. He didn't cut off his foot on a whim; he felt it was what he needed to do. If that's more funny than sad, I can't imagine what is sad.

👍 :bowdown:
 
Wait so he didn't want to work, so he cut his own foot off? Don't feel the slightest bit sorry for the guy.
 
Like I said I know I shouldn't laugh but I can't seem to help it.

In my view he did this to keep welfare payments because he did not want to get any job that was around.

Yes some jobs are a pain but at least they bring money in which is the main part.
 
Depends on how you think about it. You could either believe in Mr. Url being seriously mentally unstable, which would make this anything but funny. It'd be a darn sad story about how a psychatric unit didn't manage to safe a patient from hurting himself quite badly.

On the other hand, there's a distinct possibility that he wasn't all that unstable, but a lazy moron who'd rather cut of his foot than to get a job.

Personally, I can hardly imagine the latter to be the case, though. There are many dumb people, and I've heard of the strangest thigns people are willing to do in order to keep their jpbless benefits while rejecting all sorts of job offers. Happens all the time in Germany. But I doubt that anyone's dumb enough to cut off his own food. That's the stuff that someone with severe mental issues does. Which makes the whole affair extremely unfunny to me.
 
Furry gray person, I'm with you on this one. I read it on a Dutch news website, and had the exact same reaction.
 
"Gee how can I injur myself enough so I can stay on unemployment and get paid without actually working?"

He feared his unemployment would run out so he cut his own foot off??!!! I also do not feel the slightest bit sorry for this guy AT ALL! Obviously has some serious mental issues. Now as ironic as it seems, he will probably get paid disability the rest of his life because of this. Not because of his foot but his psychological issues. Most companies are not going to want to hire someone thats mentally unstable like this. If anything he should be thrown in jail for trying to exploit the unemployment process. Its even worse than fraud.
 
Whoa, hold on. Nobody really knows this guys full circumstances. Perhaps he was mentally unstable, perhaps he was living in desperate fear over the little income he was getting from the state. Perhaps his wife abused him over not providing for his family.

What I'm getting at is this; sawing your own foot off above the ankle is no small task. Can you imagine the pain of the process? In this guys own mind, this was his only option.

There is nothing funny about self mutilation as an act of desperation and fear just so a person can contribute to/provide for their family. There is also nothing funny about severe mental health problems.
 
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