decapitated Strideo Woah! Holy Smokes! check this one out, its creepy . . \"Aug. 17, 2003, 11:15AM Doctor decapitated by faulty elevator at St. Joseph Hospital By PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle An aspiring missionary doctor, who was voted by medical school classmates as the epitome of a good physician, was killed Saturday at Christus St. Joseph Hospital when an elevator malfunctioned, decapitating him, authorities said. Hitoshi Nikaidoh, 35, of Dallas, a surgical resident at the hospital at 1919 La Branch, was stepping onto a second-floor elevator in the main building around 9:30 a.m. when the doors closed, pinning his shoulders, said Harold Jordan, an investigator with the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. The elevator car then moved upward, severing the doctor's head, Jordan said. \"It is an unexpected and tragic loss,\" said Dr. Hisashi Nikaidoh, Hitoshi's father, from his Dallas area home. \"He is an outgoing and very caring person.\" A woman who also works at the hospital was on the elevator at the time and witnessed the accident, police said. Because of the malfunction, she was trapped on the elevator for 15 or 20 minutes before firefighters were able to reach her, police said. The woman was not injured, but was later taken to the emergency room because she was in shock, said Sgt. Kenneth Perkins of the Houston Police Department's Special Operations Division. Nikaidoh was on duty at the time and wearing his doctor coat and surgical scrubs when the accident happened, Jordan said. The scene was one of chaos when police and firefighters first arrived at the hospital, Perkins said. Medical personnel were in disbelief, some crying. \"They were trying to console one another. Just to see other people in disarray -- the looks on their faces pretty much told the whole story,\" he said. Police have launched an investigation into the accident. St. Joseph Hospital officials have taken the entire elevator bank out of service, but normal patient services have not been interrupted.\" for the full article go here: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2052396 ... 030819 ... ferret wow, that was a little more depressing than your usual news reports. i thought that the part about the doctor was especially depressing 030819 ... Strideo yeah, if I were there when it happened I don't know if I'd ever ride an elevator again! *sigh* what a way to go . . . ... 030819 ... blah-ze not a particularly brilliant end, no. can't say its high on my current list of priorities. 030819 ... delial ever since i saw the resident evil movie I've been afraid of elevators for this very reason...but i always thought it silly of me to fear such a thing, as 'it could never happen!" I hate being wrong about these things. jesus, i would not want to be the woman who witnessed that... 030819 ... oldephebe always get a little vertigo when on an elevator some inner ear thing gone awry i guess 030819 what's it to you? who go blather from