**Homemade Catapult Goes Wrong | Fascinating Horror — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/homemade-catapult-goes-wrong-fascinating-horror/ A 2002 trebuchet stunt at Middlemoor Water Park in Somerset, built by Dangerous Sports Club members, ended in a fatality during a human-throwing event. ## Key Takeaways - Engineering confidence did not eliminate lethal risk in human-launching stunts. - Early injuries were a warning sign that was partly overlooked as the project gained publicity and commercial backing. - Extreme sports subcultures in the UK during the 1970s to 1990s pursued increasingly dangerous and publicity-driven feats. - Media attention and sponsorship can intensify pressure to continue risky activities. ## What the video covers - On 24 November 2002, members of the Oxford Stunt Factory visited Middlemoor Water Park in Somerset to watch a handmade trebuchet throw human volunteers. - The trebuchet, built by scrapyard owners David Aitkenhead and Richard Wicks, stood two-and-a-half storeys tall and used a sling to launch people into a safety net. - Five people were to be thrown, and one of them died as a result of the stunt. - The Dangerous Sports Club, formed in Oxford in the 1970s, was known for high-adrenaline stunts such as hang gliding from a volcano and crossing the English Channel under a kangaroo-shaped balloon. - DSC members reportedly performed the first recorded bungee jump from the Clifton Suspension Bridge without official permission, leading to arrests. - The Oxford Stunt Factory was a splinter group aimed at Oxford University students, though the university banned it from recruiting at official events. - An earlier version of the trebuchet caused injuries, and in 2000 Stella Young shattered her pelvis after bouncing out of the net. - The incident led to a deal with MTV, which funded a larger safety net in exchange for filming rights. - Around 30 students attended the event, with only a handful intending to be thrown. - The video frames the event as a cautionary tale about risk-taking and the limits of perceived safety in extreme stunts. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 The 2002 Trebuchet Event at Middlemoor 2. 00:44 How the Trebuchet Was Built 3. 01:50 The Dangerous Sports Club and Its Stunts 4. 04:00 Student Splinter Groups and the Oxford Stunt Factory 5. 04:53 Development of the Trebuchet and Early Injuries 6. 05:31 Media Deals and the Second Trebuchet 7. 06:22 The Day of the Stunt 8. 08:00 Conclusion Answers ## Questions about this video What happened at Middlemoor Water Park in November 2002? Members of the Oxford Stunt Factory gathered to watch a homemade trebuchet throw human volunteers into a safety net. The video states that one of the five people thrown that day died as a result. Who built the trebuchet used in the stunt? The trebuchet was built by scrapyard owners David Aitkenhead and Richard Wicks, both Dangerous Sports Club members. They spent years refining the design after earlier injuries occurred. What was the Dangerous Sports Club known for? The club, formed in Oxford in the 1970s, was known for attention-grabbing high-risk stunts such as hang gliding from a volcano and crossing the English Channel under a kangaroo-shaped balloon. Its members also reportedly made an unauthorized early bungee jump from the Clifton Suspension Bridge. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:07 Speaker A On the 24th of November, 2002, a group arrived at the Middlemoor Water Park in Somerset, England. 00:25 Speaker A They were there to see one very specific attraction: a full-sized replica of a medieval trebuchet that had been constructed by hobbyists in a nearby field. 00:44 Speaker A The device was an impressive feat of engineering: built of steel and wood, it stood two-and-a-half storeys tall, ready to hurl whatever was placed in its sling high into the sky. 01:05 Speaker A On this particular day, the payload would be willing members of the visiting group. 01:22 Speaker A Five of them would be thrown by the trebuchet… and for one of those five it would be the last thing he ever did. 01:40 Speaker A From the 1970s to the 1990s there were a number of extreme sports clubs active in the UK. 01:50 Speaker A Most prominent amongst these was the Dangerous Sports Club, which was formed in Oxford in the 1970s. 02:07 Speaker A The entire purpose of the club was to enable its members to participate in attention-grabbing, potentially dangerous, high-adrenaline stunts… and for many years it succeeded in doing just this. 02:23 Speaker A Over the years members of the Dangerous Sports Club undertook hang gliding from the slopes of an active volcano, mounted a grand piano on skis and traversed a ski slope with it, and crossed the English Channel suspended below a kangaroo-shaped balloon. 02:44 Speaker A They even pioneered some extreme sports that remain popular to this day. 02:55 Speaker A Members of the DSC carried out the first ever recorded bungee jump from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in England – a feat that was carried out without official permission, and resulted in the arrest of several of the organisers. 03:11 Speaker A The DSC in general enjoyed the publicity which arose from the stunts they carried out, and cultivated a very specific image. 03:30 Speaker A Members would often carry out stunts while wearing formal tailcoats and clutching bottles of champagne. 03:49 Speaker A Like any long-running group, the membership shifted over time, and several splinter groups, sub groups and similar organisations arose from the DSC. 04:07 Speaker A These were by no means rival organisations – and many people were members of multiple groups. 04:13 Speaker A One such group was the Oxford Stunt Factory. 04:24 Speaker A This group was based in Oxford and was aimed primarily at students at Oxford University… though unlike other student societies the university banned it from recruiting members officially at university events. 04:34 Speaker A Nonetheless, the Oxford Stunt Factory was popular, and arranged a great many dangerous but thrilling adventures for its members. 04:53 Speaker A On the 24th of November, 2002, the Stunt Factory organised a trip to Middlemoor Water Park – an attraction in Somerset consisting of a water-skiing lake and a go-kart course. 05:08 Speaker A It was here that two scrapyard owners – David Aitkenhead and Richard Wicks – had handmade a full-sized replica of a medieval trebuchet. 05:25 Speaker A The two men were members of the Dangerous Sports Club, and had seized upon the idea of building a trebuchet that was capable of throwing a human being in the early 1990s. 05:40 Speaker A They then spent many years experimenting with the concept. 05:52 Speaker A Their first effort was capable of throwing a human being… but was far from perfect. 06:09 Speaker A Even with a perfectly positioned safety net there were numerous injuries. 06:30 Speaker A Many of those hurled by this first trebuchet landed badly in the net, resulting in sprains, strains and minor blunt force injuries. 06:43 Speaker A Most notably, in 2000, Richard Wicks's partner, Stella Young, volunteered to be thrown by the trebuchet, landed in the net, but then bounced out and fell to the ground, shattering her pelvis. 06:53 Speaker A Stella eventually made a full recovery, and the incident attracted media attention from all over the world. 07:10 Speaker A David and Richard used this to negotiate with broadcasters, and eventually struck a deal with MTV. 07:31 Speaker A In exchange for an invitation to film the trebuchet in action, MTV would cover the cost of a much larger safety net. 07:38 Speaker A After several years of trial and error improvement, David and Richard moved on from their first trebuchet and began work on a second, safer version at Middlemoor Water Park. 07:54 Speaker A They were confident that this model, fine-tuned through years of testing and experience, was safe enough that they could invite select members of extreme sports clubs to be thrown. 08:06 Speaker A This was how the Oxford Stunt Factory ended up at the Water Park on the 24th of November, 2002. 08:22 Speaker A Around 30 students attended, though only a handful intended to be thrown – the rest were there simply to watch. 08:41 Speaker A The atmosphere was generally convivial on the day. 09:00 Speaker A The group watched with excitement as first one then another willing volunteer was thrown. Topics: trebuchet Dangerous Sports Club Oxford Stunt Factory Middlemoor Water Park extreme sports 2002 accident true crime history Fascinating Horror UK history stunts Study this video - [Flashcards from this video](https://sozai.app/tools/ai-flashcard-generator/?from=transcript&id=83913) - [Quiz on this video](https://sozai.app/tools/quiz-generator/?from=transcript&id=83913) Free, made by AI from this transcript. No signup. --- This is the markdown twin of https://sozai.app/transcript/homemade-catapult-goes-wrong-fascinating-horror/ — the same content, without the markup. Published by SozAI (https://sozai.app). Reuse and quotation are allowed with attribution and a link back. Machine-readable index: https://sozai.app/llms.txt · data API: https://sozai.app/api/