Austrian Man Saws Off Own Foot to Avoid Loss of Dole Money, Having to Work
Have you ever wanted to get out of supporting your own self so badly you considered sawing your foot off to avoid it?
No? A tale of level 99 laziness comes out of Austria, when 56-year-old chronically unemployed man Hans Url was scheduled to run out of jobless benefits- and he took drastic measures to retain them. Url had been offered work he was not fond of, and apparently whatever the work was, it was less preferable than table sawing off his own foot. In fact, Url was so worried that his foot would be reattached and he’d be forced to take the job or starve that he threw it into a fire, to prevent doctors from repairing the limb without his consent.
A local news site quotes police spokesman Franz Fasching, who says:
“The planning was meticulous… [Url] waited until his wife and his adult son had left the house and he was alone… He then mounted the mitre saw on two stools in his boiler room under his home, tying it with a cable in place and he then deliberately removed the safety guard plate. He then switched it on and sliced off his left foot above the ankle – throwing it in the fire so it would not be possible to reattach it before he called emergency services.”
Fasching says that Url nearly died from loss of blood, and was put into a medically-induced coma after the incident- which is being investigated as an attempted suicide. But when the work-averse man recovers, local job center director Hermann Gössinger said that bad news may be waiting:
“This is a tragic case but it will not help the man. His latest excuse had been a bad back which is why he had been sent for a medical. But even now losing a foot does not automatically mean he will not be able to work. He will be assessed once he is out of hospital and we will see what work we can find for him.”
Putting aside the fact that at the age of 56, retirement couldn’t have been that far off, does anyone else feel like if he put the same energy into at least half looking for a job as he did devising a way not to work, he probably would have found a less painful resolution?
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About the Author
Kim LaCapria Kim LaCapria is a writer and editor based in New York. A longtime information junkie, she began blogging full-time at the Inquisitr in 2009. Prior to that, she worked as a marketing assistant in the cosmetics and skincare industry. In addition to her writing for fortytwotimes, she also writes for Medacity and The Inquisitr. Kim is also a contributor for SocialNewsDaily, Indyposted, and TotallyMoney. In the past, she contributed to Lipstick and Luxury and managed social media accounts and blogs for several small and mid-sized businesses.
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