Trapped nude with a dryer on his head

NATASHA MARTIN/Timaru Herald

A LOAD OFF HIS MIND: Dave Chapman, of Waipopo, near Timaru, still isn't sure why he climbed into a clothes dryer while out drinking with friends.

When dryers attack

Relevant offers

Don't ask Dave Chapman why he climbed into the clothes dryer, it's an answer that eludes even him.

All he will say is the experience that followed won't be repeated.

His experience involves one pair of underpants, a Hoover 5050 ED heavy-duty dryer (with a 5kg load-bearing capability) and Dave.

He had been drinking with a few mates at Waipopo, near Timaru, on Saturday and went to change his clothes. When it came to finding a pair of undies to put on, Dave checked the dryer.

"By that time, I'd had a fair bit to drink; I don't know what flaming possessed me to get in it. I was trying to find these undies when everything just got stuck."

Dave, who still hadn't found the clothes to cover his lower half, managed to fit his head, shoulders and arms into the dryer in his search for appropriate clothing.

"I thought my undies were there, but obviously not."

Wedged in the 30cm-wide opening of the hot, recently used dryer up to his armpits, Dave let out a cry for help. By this stage, the heat from the dried clothes was getting to him. "I was panicking because there was no air," he said.

Thrashing around in a desperate bid to escape, Dave found his situation get worse. The dryer, which sat on another one, fell to the floor, on top of him. "Somehow I managed to move the whole thing. I fell over with it on my head."

His friends lifted the device back to its resting place, with Dave still stuck inside. Soon after they were joined by ambulance staff, a female police officer and the Washdyke and Temuka fire brigades.

A naked Dave found his nether regions exposed to the world. "They told me to remain calm and all that stuff. I said: 'Well you get in here'."

The fire crews took parts off the dryer, lifted Dave horizontally, and pulled him from his prison. He's still hurting a bit, with grazes and bruises, but he's glad to be free.

The dryer is back together, Dave is recovering and the undies . . . well, they were never there - the clothes in the dryer weren't his.

- Timaru Herald

Newest First

Oldest First

Nicholas   #41   10:18 am Jul 03 2009

Far out... what ever happened to going commando!

djs   #40   11:21 am Jul 02 2009

crap writing. it says he was both out drinking when it happened and that it happened after having gone out drinking. also, it doesn't explain where it happened. and it's written in the coy style of a high school newspaper.

matt   #39   08:20 pm Jun 25 2009

this is what should be in the news :) not all this rubbish about war with north korea and jib jab about pathetic polotics! imagine the world if instead of headlines saying "19 killed in so an so accident " they say " naked man stuck in dryer " hah

Zac   #38   01:36 pm Jun 25 2009

I suspect that Mr. Chapman saw an inter-dimensional rift forming in the dryer and was in the process of being sucked through when it closed, trapping him without his clothes in the process. A quick Google Search for "angry washing machine" will reveal proof of this phenomena (as a couple of other posters have alluded to already - maybe the two were part of a matching set? ;-)

Maria   #37   12:55 pm Jun 25 2009

One for New Zealand's 'most stupid' file...

tyrrell   #36   10:36 am Jun 25 2009

Good on ya mate !

< hands Dave a Speights >

monz   #35   09:23 am Jun 25 2009

daaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaa dis guys da man!!!! crack up dude hehe nz'ers r so funny!!!!

Beerd   #34   03:23 am Jun 25 2009

Drongo- We have lots of Drongos in Canada but we never had such a good name for them. Thanks New Zealand.

courtz   #33   11:58 pm Jun 24 2009

bahahahaha....how friggin hillarious...good stuff keep it coming...

Muppet   #32   09:57 pm Jun 24 2009

Should've given the guy's head a bit of a whirl to screw it back on.

Ad Feedback