Thomas Midgley
In 1940, at the age of 51, Midgley became ill with polio which left him disabled. It was to the point where it was hard to do every day tasks; like getting  out of bed.  He decided to invent a complicated  system of strings and pulleys to lift him from his bed. However, this plan backfired, and he got caught up in the ropes and died of strangulation.