Darwin Award: A Medieval Knight Reenactor Died After Accidentally Impaling Himself With His Lance
It comes with great sadness that my younger middle brother, Peter Barclay has died. 53 years old, raised in Las Cruces…
Posted by John Barclay on Saturday, October 6, 2018
A Virginia man inadvertently killed himself during a Medieval reenactment performance after he impaled himself with his 7-foot-long lance.
Peter Barclay, 53, was competing in an equestrian game in front of a crowd in Williamstown, Kentucky. He performed under the stage name “Master Terafan Greydragon.”
Barclay’s brother John Barclay said in a Facebook post that the accident happened “when his metal-tipped lance, used for catching rings (not jousting), hit the ground and flipped.”
John Fulton, the president of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) which organized the reenactment, said: “Something happened with that spear and he lost control of it or it turned, hit the ground, and as his horse was moving, the tip of it went into him.”
SCA confirmed Barclay’s death in a statement via their Facebook page. Society Marshal Alan Gravesend added that an investigation into the strange death will be launched.
Fulton says that SCA follows a “very strict set of rules” and safety guidelines, which makes Barclay’s death all the more jarring.
While injuries during the equestrian event have occurred in the past, Fulton said that his organization had never witnessed any performers die during a performance. “I’ve never had an injury on the field like this, ever, that led to something like this,” Fulton said.
“Everybody that knew him is just dead stunned,” Fulton told WLWT. “His ability, his skill and his attention to detail and safety is just totaled.”
Barclay had been performing in Medieval reenactments for more than 30 years and also taught others how to ride horses and perform in similar Medieval-style activities.
Despite the tragedy of his death, Barclay’s brother said that “he died doing what he loved.” Hopefully, this serves as small comfort to his family and friends at this time.
After this look at the 2018 Darwin awards, check out this runner up who contracted a Mad-Cow-like disease from eating squirrel brains, or this insatiable cannibal couple from Russia who got caught via cellphone pictures.
