The Prison Cell Of "The Man Who Lived Through Doomsday"

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On May 8, 1902, Mt. Pelee in Martinique erupted, destroying the city of St. Pierre and instantaneously killing more than 30,000 people. The city's sole survivor was Ludger Sylbaris, a felonious drunk who was rotting in this cell.

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On the night of May 7, Sylbaris was arrested for fighting and was thrown in the pokey. His cell was tiny, stone, partially underground, and contained only a tiny slit for air. Sylbaris had picked a prime night to act rowdy, as hell would come to St. Pierre the next morning. Via Atlas Obscura:

Mt. Pelee exploded and a cloud of smoke darkened the sky for fifty miles around. A cloud of superheated volcanic gas and dust rolled out of the volcano at hundreds of miles per hour destroying everything in an eight mile radius. Within a single minute the 1,075 degree pressure wave had flattened every building in the city of St. Pierre and anyone unlucky enough to be in its way instantly caught fire and burned to death. Even those in shelter were suffocated as the wave of gas, hotter than fire, burned up the oxygen and replaced it was deadly gases. People's lungs were burnt to a crisp from taking a single breath, and after the eruption the city burned for day. The explosion instantly killed the over 30,000 residents of the island.

Except that it didn't, not quite. Ludger couldn't have been more lucky. He was found four days after the eruption by a rescue team who heard his calls. Despite being in the safest place on the island he was horribly burned as the air in his room had flash heated to over 1000 degrees. Ludger described the experience of seeing the light coming through the slit grow dark, and then the superheated ash flying in. He peed on his clothes and stuffed them in the slit, but it didn't stop the heat.

Sylbaris was one of three survivors of the Mt. Pelee blast. Havivra Da Ifrile, a young girl, escaped the pyroclastic cloud by taking a boat out to sea, and Léon Compère-Léandre, a shoemaker, was likely knocked into the ocean from his home. Sylbaris was pardoned for his boozy loutishness and later achieved minor fame with Barnum and Bailey's Circus as "the man who lived through Doomsday," thus beginning the only celebrity career spring-boarded by a catastrophic volcano and a drinking problem.

Source

That's definitely one lucky guy! Maybe when I party on the apocalypse I'll get this lucky.

Very good read i guess the sun even shines on a dogs butt once in awhile.Lucky dog he was

I live near Yellowstone. I suddenly feel the need to go get a drink......

Just because he lived does not mean he is lucky.

It said he was hit with 1000 degree superheated air and burnt very badly.

He would have been better off dying, almost certainly.

I would choose instant death over surviving a 1000 degree full body burn.

He was very unlucky, imho.

reply to post by muzzleflash


Good point although I suppose it depends on his outlook on life. Some people live with horrible disabilities and enjoy every moment alive.

Wow that’s a great story although he was both lucky and unlucky at the same time it seems..

Ludger couldn’t have been more lucky. He was found four days after the eruption by a rescue team who heard his calls. Despite being in the safest place on the island was horribly burned as the air in his room had flash heated to over 1000 degrees. Ludger described the experience of seeing the light coming through the slit grow dark, and then the superheated ash flying in. He peed on his clothes and stuffed them in the slit, but it didn’t stop the heat.

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But I really do have to wonder though what the hell was going through this guys mind when he was down there.

Maybe he really did think it was genuinely the end of the world as we know it.

[edit on 27-4-2010 by Rising Against]

Great story. thanks for the read. I didn't know that eruptions were so quick. I thought you would have at least 3-5 minutes of unsuccessful running.