Segway company owner dies falling from Segway

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**JohnHwangDD**

LONDON (Reuters) – The British millionaire businessman who owns the firm Segway has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff with one of the two-wheeled electric scooters near his body, police said on Monday.

Jimi Heselden, 62, who bought the U.S.-based firm, and who was also chairman of Hesco Bastion, was discovered in a river near Leeds, northern England, on Sunday.

The incident, described as a freak accident in the media, was not being treated as suspicious. A Segway was found near his body, a police spokeswoman said. "It is with great sadness that we have to confirm that Jimi Heselden has died in a tragic accident near his home in West Yorkshire," Hesco Bastion said in a statement.

A family spokesman said speculation about the cause of his death had been deeply upsetting.

"There is absolutely nothing to suggest it was anything other than a tragic accident," he said in a statement.

Invented by Dean Kamen, the self-balancing Segway scooter was made famous by then U.S. President George W. Bush when he took one for a spin, only to jump off after losing control.

at least W was smart enough to jump to safety...

**KingCracker**

Book mark that story. That way when you have to explain what IRONY means. They can just read it. The worst part is.....I cant help but smile a little bit

**Samus_aran115**

LOLZ.

I never understood the point of a segway in the first place. Why would I want to stand up if I'm not walking? Put a chair on it or something

**ZoomDakkaDakka**

It'd be irony if he was trying to prove their safety when he died.

**Vargtass**

Or if it fell on a firetruck and set it on fire...

**AbaddonFidelis**

he died as he lived, as he hoped one day all of us will live..... on two wheels.

**Morathi's Darkest Sin**

ZoomDakkaDakka wrote:It'd be irony if he was trying to prove their safety when he died.

I'm going to the hot place, because I couldn't help but chuckle earlier when I first spotted the news.

The only reason I can think of him rumbling along a cliff on Segway if not planing to top himself, was if he was trying to prove 'you can take them anywhere' and they're totally safe.

Is it Darwin award time already, because although I've not seen the cliff he was on yet in the news, if its like many others around our coastline, you'd have enough fun walking on it, never mind riding that thing.

**yj2133011**

Book mark that story. That way when you have to explain what IRONY means. They can just read it. The worst part is.....I cant help but smile a little bit

**VermGho5t**

Samus_aran115 wrote:LOLZ.

I never understood the point of a segway in the first place. Why would I want to stand up if I'm not walking? Put a chair on it or something

A dramatic entrance! Haven't you ever seen Arrested Development?

**hcordes**

just wow.....

**SilverMK2**

Perhaps he was bored of just driving along well paved roads and wanted to do a bit of XTREME SEGWAY! (TM patent pending).

Could also have had some other medical condition (heart attack etc) which caused him to lose control.

**sebster**

Serves him right for spelling segue wrong.

**Orlanth**

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:

Is it Darwin award time already, because although I've not seen the cliff he was on yet in the news, if its like many others around our coastline, you'd have enough fun walking on it, never mind riding that thing.

It wasnt necessarily a coastal cliff what what I saw, it was also 'only' 30ft tall.

**Kilkrazy**

KingCracker wrote:Book mark that story. That way when you have to explain what IRONY means. They can just read it. The worst part is.....I cant help but smile a little bit

Sorry to say I laughed out loud and pointed the story out to my colleagues.

The sad thing is that this guy was a bit of a mensch. A miner, made redudant in the early 80s, he built up a substantial business empire. You can't help but admire.

**ShumaGorath**

The man was a philanthropist that had dedicated the later part his life to trying to solve the worlds problems. He gave a considerable amount of his fortune yearly to many different charities and he never talked about doing it.

Hope you all enjoy your "luls segway death".

**JohnHwangDD**

I'm sure he was a great guy.

Nevertheless, he literally drove a scooter off a cliff to his death...

it's a completely ridiculous way to die.

You can't help but compare him suspended in midair like Wile E. Coyote, or contrast against Thelma and Louise driving into the Grand Canyon. It's on a ridiculous, pointless electric scooter. And that scooter goes so slow, it's hard to imagine an able-bodied person not being able to react safely.

And on top of it all, he bought the Segway company, the maker of his undoing.

So, yeah, good guy or not, he's going to be remembered for how he went out, snickers and giggles and all. To imagine that we wouldn't have a chuckle over it is simply unreasonable.