Homeless Man Uses Dead Opossum to Prevent Being Crushed in a Garbage Truck

(Not exactly a bizarre zoological curiosity, but maybe it could fall in the exotic pet category? Either way, the world deserves to know.)

Robert Bashwell, a 44-year old homeless man in West Palm Beach, Florida, fell asleep in a dumpster to escape the rain, but woke up to find himself in the back of a garbage truck being crushed by the truck's trash compressor. In order to shield the blows of the compacting garbage, Bashwell claims he used the corpse of a dead opossum.


Jaws of life...

"I screamed one last breath," Bashwell said, but a trash collector discovered him before it was too late.

Bashwell suffered broken legs and ribs in the incident. We all should be so lucky to find a dead opossum in our time of need.

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