Thomas Midgley: System of Strings and Pulleys to Help Others Lift Him from Bed (1944)

When the famous American mechanical engineer and chemist Thomas Midgley, Jr. contracted poliomyelitis at the age of 51, he became severely disabled. This situation led him to devise an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help others lift him from bed.

On November 2, 1944, at the age of 55, Midgley died of strangulation due to the system when he was entangled in the ropes of his own device.