On November 13, 1986, Michael Lush died while performing a stunt for the BBC’s The Late Late Breakfast Show. According to some reports, it was the darkest day in British television history.
The BBC made an ex gratia payment of around £120,000 to Lush’s family. The coroner recommended that security guards be present during similar follow-up stunts, but BBC director-general Bill Cotton insisted there would be no more broadcasts putting the public at risk .
Everything you need to know about the young man at the time and the details of the terrible situation is provided here.
Michael Lush
Who was Michael Lush on Late Late Breakfast?
Michael Lush, 24, born in South Hampton, was a young man. Reportedly, he worked for himself as a hod carrier – a laborer on a building who moved bricks in a box with no sides.
Before being selected to participate as a stuntman on The Late Late Breakfast Show, which is known for its risky and potentially deadly stunts, everything was going according to plan. His fiancée nominated him for the whirling wheel, and on November 8, 1986, he was called live on the program and asked to take the Hang ’em High challenge.
Lush added that while everyone thought he was crazy for taking on such a stunt, he was actually quite happy to try it. For him, all it needed was a bottle, and he was ready to do anything that came his way.
The saddest part was when he joked that his fiancée Allison mentioned getting married before the day of the stunt. Moreover, his choice stressed his mother. She couldn’t understand why he was so preoccupied with the room. He replied, “I want to be famous” to that. Unfortunately, he gained notoriety due to his affiliation with the BBC program and the tragic event that took his life.
The official show was supposed to premiere on November 15, but the training was supposed to take place two days earlier, when the disaster happened.
Michael Lush has passed away
What happened to Michael Lush? Accident and death during the Late Late Breakfast show
Lush was really excited to start practicing the stunt he would be performing live on national television on Nov. 13. He joined the group and tried his luck after learning the tricks.
The “Hang ’em High” stunt, which involved bungee jumping from an exploding box, involved a 120-foot-tall crane. The carabiner that kept his bungee cord attached to the crane during the jump came loose from his eyebolt.
The show was discontinued on November 15, 1986, following Edmonds’ resignation with the justification that he did not have “the heart to go on”, and he died instantly after colliding with something and have been seriously injured. The scheduled program scheduled to air that evening was replaced with the screening of One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing.
Despite the conclusion of the inquest into the incident, the jury were told of a number of shortcomings by the BBC.
According to Graham Games of the Health and Safety Executive, who also demonstrated that the clip came off 14 out of 20 times, the clip could have been opened by the weight of a bag of sugar.
David Kirke, a bungee expert from the Dangerous Sports Club, claimed that a comparable operation he was involved in used three ropes instead of the single one used by the BBC and shackles instead of carabiners. There had been no supervision or demonstration of stuntmen, and Andrew Smith, the security guard, was not present.
Ultimately, Lush was found to have wet boots before jumping, which, while not contributing to the accident, was nonetheless a safety issue.
Who was Michael Lush and what happened to him on The Late Late Breakfast Show?
The death of Michael Lush and the end of the band
On November 13, 1986, a volunteer named Michael Lush died during the first practice for another live stunt. The stunt, called “Hang ’em High,” involved bungee jumping from a box that was about to explode while suspended from a 120-foot-tall crane. The carabiner clip that attached its bungee cord to the eyelet of the crane broke during the jump. The show was canceled on November 15, 1986, after Edmonds resigned and said he “didn’t have the heart to go on”, dying instantly from his numerous injuries. One of Our Dinosaurs Has Disappeared was screened that night instead of the show that was supposed to air.
Although ‘misadventure’ was the verdict, the jury was told that the BBC had made a number of errors. The clip could have been opened by a bag of sugar, according to Graham Games of the Health and Safety Executive, who also demonstrated that the clip came off 14 out of 20 times. The BBC single rope was replaced with three ropes and shackles were used instead of carabiners, according to bungee specialist David Kirke of the Dangerous Sports Club.
A trained stuntman was not present to observe or demonstrate anything, and Andrew Smith, the security guard, was not present either. There was no one else in the air with Lush in case he changed his mind, and once he was in the air he was unable to return to the ground. He waited about two minutes before being ordered to jump, according to jury testimony. Moreover, despite being instructed not to, the BBC production team persisted in using bungee cord.
Additionally, Lush had consumed two pints of beer for lunch before the rehearsal and there was no airbag or safety net to cushion a potentially dangerous fall. Finally, it was discovered that Lush was wearing wet boots when he jumped. While not the cause of the drama, it was nonetheless a security issue.
