Irwin Announces Grand Prize Winner of Vise-Grip Contest

A week or two ago, we told you about the three finalists in Irwin's Vise-Grip contest. There was the guy who had his exhaust system clamped to his manifold for 28 years with a pair of Vise-Grips; the Navy surgeon who removed some pins from a soldier's spine with a pair of Vise-Grips; and lastly, the fellow who crimped his brake line with a pair of Vise-Grips during the Baja 500.

As their big winner, Irwin chose the Navy surgeon and although we really like the guy who drove around for 28 years with a pair of pliers holding his truck together, we can't really dispute the winner. Saving a life is far more deserving of praise than being too cheap to repair your truck. The grand prize winner received a $25,000 custom chopper built by East Coast Custom Cycles.

From the press release:

A member of the U.S. Navy for more than 25 years, Dr. Fox found a unique use for his VISE-GRIP as a spine surgeon on the battlefield in the Middle East. In the heat of battle, Dr. Fox needed to perform emergency spinal surgery on a soldier who had a combination of screws and rods that had been implanted into his infected spine. Complicating the medical challenges at hand, Dr. Fox did not have access to the specialized tools necessary to deal with the soldier's different spine implants. Dr. Fox did, however, have access to a pair of VISE-GRIP locking pliers. He sterilized his VISE-GRIP tools and used them to remove the rods and screws from the soldier's infected spine, effectively saving his life.

Irwin tools at Amazon.com

March 11, 2009

Irwin Announces Grand Prize Winner of Vise-Grip Contest