Segway Company Owner Dies in Tragic Segway Accident

Jimi Heselden, the man who purchased the Segway company from inventor Dean Kamen, died in a Segway accident yesterday.

The 62-year-old Heselden was apparently riding a rugged Segway x2 Adventure model (above photo) around his property when the accident occurred, according to The Independent.

Police believe that Heselden’s Segway drove off a cliff into the River Wharfe, which is located in Yorkshire, England. A spokesman for the West Yorkshire police department said, “Police have named James William Heselden as the 62-year-old local man who was pronounced dead yesterday after being pulled from the River Wharfe near to Leys Lane at Boston Spa.”

At this time, police do not believe there was anything suspicious about the accident. Heselden was known as one of the 400 richest people in the United Kingdom, but apparently came from “humble beginnings.”

He spent his early years as a miner before developing technology used to protect soldiers from explosions “in every major conflict since the first Gulf war.” Heselden was also known as a generous philanthropist, donating much of his fortune to various causes near his hometown.

http://youtube.com/churchhatestucker Church

Wow. I had to click through to make sure this wasn’t some kind of poor joke.
Rorschach

Ditto. And reading the philanthropy bit I feel bad.
richardsrussell

Looked to me like a headline from The Onion, but then I reflected that TechLand was a branch of Time and not given to satire (except occasionally on April 1) and got the sinking feeling that maybe it was Dean Kamen who’d died. Tragic enuf as it is, but Kamen should be declared a walking World Heritage Site.
ravenpi

Oh, puh-lease. What has Dean Kamen done in the past 15 years that even compares with giving $35 million to good causes? Gimme a break. Please. Jimmi was a true work-hard-and-believe story; Dean works hard, yes, but he’s best at self promotion — as is evident by the fact that you slavishly promote him over someone who was understated, but did vastly more for his fellow man.
http://betstoresonthenet.com goalseeker

Terrible accident to hear of but he was another example of being able to create an empire while still giving to others. An example of many of the giants of old who acquired wealth with a philanthropist attitude. Give without expectation of return.
thebonafortuna

Wow. That is messed up. Agree with above poster, it sounds like something you’d read on “The Onion” (not to belittle the tragic nature of the story). Sorry to hear about it.