Actually, I sugarcoated it just a little.
From Wikipedia.
Thomas Midgley Jr. - Wikipedia.
"In 1940, at the age of 51, Midgley contracted
polio and was left severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to lift himself out of bed. On November 2, 1944, at the age of 55, he was found dead at his home in
Worthington, Ohio. He had been
killed by his own device after he became entangled in it and died of strangulation. He left behind a widow, Carrie M. Reynolds from
Delaware, Ohio, whom he had married on August 3, 1911. It was reported to the public that his death was an accident, but it was privately declared a suicide."
IMHO, while Midgley invented two things that were bad environmentally, he was still an obviously brilliant man. Compared to other refrigerant chemicals in use at the time, Freon was pretty mild. Finding a chemical that wasn't real toxic, flammable or explosive was a large step forward in refrigeration. I don't know as comparing him to someone that huffs Freon is exactly right.