Man accidentally hangs self in amateur stunt

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A man was recovering in a Vancouver-area hospital after an attempt to film a mock hanging as a stunt accidentally became the real thing, police said on Thursday.

The 23-year-old man thought he had protected himself by wearing a harness when he went to a suburban park on Wednesday to have a friend record him dangling lifelessly from a tree, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

"Unfortunately things did not go as planned and the male was unintentionally hung from the rope he had placed around his neck," according to a police spokesman who said the friend initially did not realize anything was wrong.

Neither man was trained as a stunt actor, according to the police statement that added: "The 'Don't Try This at Home!' disclaimers on commercials and movies are there for a reason."

(Reporting Allan Dowd, editing by Todd Eastham)