College Student Sues Over Bottle Rocket Fired From Another Student's Anus

We know college students can be a wild and unruly bunch especially doing drugs and binge drinking.  But this frat brother of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at Maxwell University in Huntington, West Virginia was already drunk when he came up with this idea.

Travis Hughes thought shooting a bottle rocket out of his anus would be a fun thing to do.  So on the deck of the ATO fraternity house, Hughes placed a bottle rocket in his anus and lit it.  But the rocket didn't launch and instead blew up in Hughes' rectum.

Now there were frat brothers sitting around on the deck watching this idiot prepare to shoot the bottle rocket.  Louis Helmburg III, a frat brother, says when the rocket blew up it startled him so much that he jumped back and fell of the deck. He became stuck between the a/c unit and the deck.

Hughes was underage at the time of this incident as were quite a few other people at the house. The majority of the people at the party were drinking. Helmburg says there were even a couple of fraternity officers at the party.

Helmburg is suing his fraternity and Hughes for his injuries. He claims he suffered pain and medical expenses and lost time from the baseball team. He says there was no rail on the deck which violates the building code and that the Fraternity didn't supervise the underage party goers an allowed them to drink alcohol. Helmburg's attorney argues "the activity of drinking underage and firing bottle rockets out of one's own anus constitutes an 'ultra hazardous' activity." Helmburg is suing for damages and strict liability.

Obviously, there is much information missing from this story. The account doesn't say what Helmburg's age is but I am guessing he was of age. When Helmburg got to the frat party he saw underage drinking and he did nothing. Was Helmburg intoxicated when he fell off the deck? He was sitting on the deck when Hughes started this crazy stunt. He could have moved to another area. Also, when he went out to sit on the deck, he knew there was no railing there.

Why is it someone else's fault he fell off the deck? Neither Hughes nor the Fraternity is responsible for Helmburg falling off the deck. No one pushed him off...he jumped and fell off according to his own account. Now that he is suing his Fraternity, they will probably treat him like the plague so the brotherhood thing is over. 

The report also didn't mention if Hughes suffered any injuries. He was probably too embarrassed to report his injuries, but I imagine it was a while before he could sit comfortably.  Most likely, won't try that stunt again. It was a stupid and dangerous stunt and Hughes is just another a**hole shooting off fireworks.

Peace