As many of you know by now Paul Smirfs2k05 Flores passed away today (5/1/10). He was being kept alive by life support and today after his last complication was disconnected from life support.
All of you want to know how it happened. Here are all the details that we have.
At about 1:00PM 4/30/10 Paul was changing the diff on his S2000. From what it looks like, Paul only had the back of the car on jack stands. We think the car shifted or rolled forward causing the jack stands to be kicked out allowing the car to fall on Paul. The weight of the car collapsed one of his lungs and he was suffocated. He then lost consciousness, lost pulse and stopped breathing.
Nobody was aware that Paul was trapped under the car and consequently was out of oxygen for anywhere from 20-45 minutes. Paramedics and police showed up and rushed him to the local hospital. Paul was later transferred by Mercy Air to Loma Linda hospital were he underwent surgeries and treatments for his injuries. Paul remained at Loma Linda hospital until he quietly passed away at 2:45PM 5/1/10.
Paul was not alone in his final hours/minutes. He was surrounded by a hospital floor full of loving family and friends. So many so that security asked some of us to leave.
Paul Flores will be extremely missed.
Remember to always have a backup with a spare tire, cinder block, something that’s at least as tall as your chest when you’re under a car on jack stands. Also, it never hurts to body-check the car to make sure it’s stable once it’s up on stands. Horrible way to go out.
No matter where I am working on a car, when I am under it I always have two cinder blocks just in case. Your life is worth the extra 2 minutes it takes to slide them under your car.
Well I always have a large peice of wood on top of the cinder block as well. So unlike a sledge hammer the impact would be not be single point. I figured that would be enough?
I too use the wheel, but sometimes it gets in the way and I remove it. However, I’m usually standing up tall as I have a lift, etc. so I’d HOPE (keyword), I’d have a second or two to dive to safety should the lift locks fail.
