Read Death by Misadventure: 210 Dumb Ways to Die Online

Authors: Dale Dreher

Tags: #true crime, #medical humour, #true stories, #bizarre stories, #fatal accidents, #freak accidents, #fluke accidents, #dark humor

Death by Misadventure: 210 Dumb Ways to Die (5 page)

BOOK: Death by Misadventure: 210 Dumb Ways to Die
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97. Tragic Joke.
A 22 year old college student was killed after joking
with his friends that he would jump out of their moving car. Gavino
Cruz opened the passenger door just as the car made a left hand
turn. Cruz fell out and sustained massive head injuries after
making contact with the curb. He died a short time later. Cruz was
the youngest of 12 children and the first to attend college. Fellow
students donated money to the Cruz family who could not afford to
pay for the unexpected funeral expenses.
Long Beach Press Telegram, November 16, 1990

98. Reality Hurts.
High school student, Michael Shingledecker, 18, was apparently
dared to re-enact a scene from a movie,
The
Program
, where members of a college
football team lie down in the middle of a busy highway to prove
their courage. Shingledecker was killed, and a friend seriously
injured, on Pennsylvania State Route 62 outside of Pittsburgh. At
least one other teen has been killed and several others injured
re-enacting the same scene.
Long Beach
Press-Telegram, October 19, 1993;Post-Tribune, October 24,
1993

99. B-Careful.
Victor Guzman, a 16 year old 8th grade student, died
playing a word game. In the game called "B", players punch their
opponent after saying a word that starts with that letter. Guzman
taunted his opponent, "Is that as hard as you can hit?" then turned
red and collapsed. Guzman died in hospital that same
afternoon.
Miami Herald, February 25,
1993

100. Deadly Foreplay.
A Los Angeles couple enjoyed playing with guns. In addition to
target practice at the Beverly Hills Gun Club, the unidentified
twenty-something couple also enjoyed "dry firing", or pointing
unloaded weapons at each other and pulling the trigger. While
playing in bed to celebrate the wife's return from a trip, the
husband dry fired at his wife. The husband was killed,
however, when the woman reciprocated with a loaded weapon. It seems
that while the woman was away her husband loaded her gun for some
reason and forgot to empty it. The police officer in charge of the
investigation described dry firing as, "very poor
judgement."
Associated Press, August
18, 1987

101. Plum Creek Mobile Storm.
Desert Storm veteran, Daryl Smallwood, 22, died during a New Year’s
party at a friend’s mobile home. Police say that Smallwood died
after a friend restrained him in a headlock for several minutes
during a quarrel with his wife. The Smallwood family denied that
the couple were having an argument and described the incident as
simple “rowdiness.”
Charlotte
Observer, January 2, 1992

102. Lush Death.
Michael Lush, 25, died practicing a stunt he was to perform live on
a British television program,
The Late,
Late Breakfast Show
. The unemployed
construction worker was to escape from a suspended crate before the
crate exploded. During the fatal rehearsal, the crate did not
explode but fell 100 feet to the ground, killing its occupant. At
the time, the television network received 1000 applications weekly
from people wishing to perform similar stunts on the popular BBC
comedy program.
Associated Press,
November 13, 1986

103. Amazing Failure.
On the 64th anniversary of the Great Houdini's death, "Amazing Joe"
Burrus, 32, attempted an escape from a Plexiglas coffin buried
under 3 feet of dirt and 3 tons of wet cement. Despite pleas from
friends and family and a dismal trial run, Amazing Joe went ahead
with his stunt before a crowd of 150 which included his wife and
two children. The coffin collapsed while the cement was still being
poured. Burrus was crushed inside. An acquaintance commented,
"Houdini practiced everything again and again and again. Joe didn't
... do obvious things like test the strength of the
casket..."
Fresno Bee, November 2,
1990

104. Black Magic.
Aspiring escape artist, Aidan Burrows, 11, of London, England,
accidentally strangled himself trying to emulate his hero, Houdini.
Aidan's mother found his unconscious body on the floor of his
bedroom bound in chains and locks. Emergency technicians were
unable to revive him.
Reuters,
November 23, 1994

105. Games Girls Play.
April Hough, 20, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the
head. Hough was playing Russian Roulette with a .38-calibre
revolver at a girlfriend’s house. Hough
lost.
Charlotte Observer, February 11,
1992

106. How to Impress Your Boss.
Chan Mo Kwan, 19, died at a barbecue at his boss' Hong Kong
home after making good on his boast that he could drink an entire
bottle of brandy in one attempt. Chan passed out instantly and
never regained consciousness.
Agence
France Presse, November 13, 1996

107. Paddle Prank.
Eighteen-year-old, Aaron Goebel, died during a romantic canoe
outing on Lake Eden in Alberta. Goebel and a friend were double
dating when the two young men decided it would be funny to strand
their girlfriends in the canoe by jumping out and taking the
paddles. The women paddled to shore by-hand; Aaron’s friend swam to
safety. And Goebel drowned when his feet got stuck in the lake’s
muddy bottom.
Toronto Star, July 8,
1997

108. Deadly Bridge Game.
Gunnar Pilqvist Stephan, a 30 year old Swedish
sailor, died trying to race a drawbridge in Saint Malo,
France. Gunnar was trying to catch up with friends who had made it
across the bridge before it started to rise. Instead of turning
back he grabbed onto the edge and was lifted 130 feet in the air.
Gunnar lost his grip and was killed immediately upon impact with
the concrete below.
Agence France
Presse, July 16, 1992

109. Concrete Waves.
Georgia teenager, Robert Johnson, 16, was killed surfing. Robert
caught a 55-mph wave on the roof of his friend's car. Johnson
managed to stand for three quarters of a mile before falling
onto the highway and sustaining fatal head
injuries.
Atlanta Constitution, June
20, 1991

110. Seatbelt Fatality.
An Indiana coroner reported one case of a 13 year old boy
who died because he was wearing a seatbelt. The seatbelt was lashed
around his ankles and tied to the hood of his friend's car at the
time. The young man was "car surfing" on a dirt road at about 40
mph when the driver lost control of the vehicle and rolled the car
into the ditch. The surfer was still tied to the car when the
rescuers arrived. They were unable to revive him. The coroner noted
that car surfing was featured in the 1985 movie,
Teen Wolf
, starring
Michael J. Fox.
Journal of Forensic
Sciences (1992) Volume 37-6

111. Dead Pool.
Indiana teenager, Andre Hurt, 17, drowned in a hotel swimming pool
while attending a family reunion in St. Louis. Hurt, a
non swimmer, was standing in the shallow end of the pool when
he announced to friends that he was going underwater to see how
long he could hold his breath. A few moments later the friends saw
Hurt's body on the bottom of the deep end. Hurt could not be
resuscitated.
St. Louis Post Dispatch,
August 4, 1997

112. Reverse Dirty Harry.
At a card game with friends, Xavier Ricks, 19, pulled out a
revolver and loaded it with a single bullet then pointed it at his
three friends while pulling the trigger. Mistakenly thinking that
he was on an empty cylinder, Ricks pulled the trigger for the
fourth time with the barrel of the gun in his mouth. The Homicide
Bureau Chief commented, "We have been dealing with this kind of
incident for years. I've been carrying a gun for 30 years, and it's
an awesome responsibility."
Buffalo
News, April 24, 1994

113. Mercy Chicken.
Friends still dispute exactly how Graham Glickfeld, 31, of Fremont,
California, ended up being run over by a close friend. Some say
that Glickfeld, a life long sufferer of Tourettes's syndrome
finally got someone to take him up on one of his frequent offers of
money to end his tortured lonely existence. Others say Glickfeld
and his friend were simply playing
"chicken."
Chicago Tribune, December
31, 1989

114. Out with a Bang!
Tim Choate, 15, and his best friend, Michael Untersee, 13, killed
themselves spectacularly while playing with fireworks. The boys lit
the toy explosives while playing on top of a 20,000-gallon oil
tank, near Oklahoma City. The boys' bodies were found over 200 feet
away while the explosion itself could be seen for several
miles.
Associated Press, June 22,
1997

115. Wired.
Massachusetts fisherman, Barry Hines, 18, was electrocuted by
overhead electrical wires. Hines and a friend were walking home
after midnight one Friday night when Hines suddenly began climbing
a utility pole. The pole had climbing rungs for workers, which
began 6 feet above ground. Hines was killed when he touched
one of the 4000 volt electrical wires supported by the pole.
Power to area residents had to be shut off while rescue workers
disentangled Hines' body from the cable TV and telephone wires that
hung below the electrical lines.
Boston Globe, April 15, 1984

116. Banzai!
Napa California high school students were trying to set a
"clogging" record on a tubular slide at a local water park. One
teenager was killed and 32 were injured when 50 to 60 kids rushed
onto the 30 foot tall slide. One of the slide's seams broke
causing many of the students to tumble to the
ground.
Contra Costa Times, June 5,
1997

117. Lethal Stealth.
Elizabeth Gould, 16, died sneaking out of her Virginia home at
11:30pm. Gould was pushing one of the family cars backwards down
the driveway so the car's engine would not alert her parents. Gould
lost control of the car and crashed into a fence. Gould's parents
woke from the noise to find their daughter's body crushed between
the open driver's door and a fence post.
Richmond Times Dispatch, October 21, 1995

Stupidity On The
Job

118. Death of the Party.
Garry Hoy, a 39 year old Toronto lawyer, crashed through his
office window and plunged 24 floors to his death. Hoy was
demonstrating the tensile strength of the skyscraper's windows
during an office party. As he had done on several other occasions,
Garry ran shoulder first at the sealed window from across the room.
Garry specialized in securities.
Ottawa Citizen, July 12, 1993

119. Use Your Head.
A trucker's helper known as, Ofori, died in Hohoe, Ghana, when he
attempted to carry a 340 pound basket of fish on his head. Ofori
managed the weight for a few seconds but collapsed before reaching
his truck.
Agence France Presse,
February 9, 1995

120. World's Worst Watchman.
A 28 year old construction worker, known as Junior,
drowned in the lake he was protecting from trespassing swimmers.
Junior's boss let him stay on the property in return for chasing
off local kids who liked to party and swim at the remote spot.
Junior's co workers came looking for him when he didn’t show
up for work one day. They found Junior's body, clad only in
underwear, floating in the lake. Since the property's trailer did
not have a shower, friends believe Junior drowned while washing up
for dinner the night before.
Miami
Herald, August 21, 1987

121. Rocket Scientist.
Before every flight of a U 2 spy plane from NASA's Ames
Research Centre in Mountain View, California, a technician must
check the pilots' equipment. Oxygen helmets are tested for leaks
using nitrogen instead of oxygen used because oxygen is highly
flammable. For some reason, Ronald Johnson ignored safety
procedures and wore one of the helmets during the test. The
29-year-old Air Force Veteran was quickly
suffocated.
Associated Press, February
27, 1986

122. Real Dumb Waiter.
Jerry Smith, 47, has the dubious distinction of being the first
human fatality associated with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Smith, a
kitchen worker aboard one of the clean up vessels, decided to
accompany some produce in the ship’s dumbwaiter. Unfortunately for
Smith, there was not enough room at the top of the dumbwaiter shaft
and he was crushed to death.
San Jose
Mercury News, May 25, 1989

123. Dough Head.
A 19 year old unidentified worker was killed when he fell
headfirst into an industrial dough mixer at a pasta factory in
the Bronx, New York. The worker lost his footing while loading the
machine. The victim's distraught supervisor claimed, "This has
never happened in the 40 years I've been in the
business."
Reuters, October 27,
1994

124. Elevator Grudge.
A 90 year old self employed elevator mechanic in
Pittsburgh was crushed to death by an elevator he installed 50
years earlier. William Beatty and the other workers at the site had
thought that they had turned the electricity off before Beatty
started work inside the elevator car. The bystanders were unable to
pull Beatty to safety when the elevator suddenly lurched upward,
crushing the veteran mechanic's legs between the floor of the car
and the top of the elevator door frame.
Associated Press, March 5, 1988

BOOK: Death by Misadventure: 210 Dumb Ways to Die
11.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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