What is Death?

"Death is certain, since it is inevitable, but also uncertain, since its diagnosis is sometimes fallible"
Jacques-Benigne Winslow, Danish Anatomist: Morte incertae signa, 1740

Throughout the world, death and all the rituals that surround it are steeped in taboos. Even in cultures where death is celebrated and embraced, certain restrictions on clothing or food can apply after a death.

Death of course can happen at any time. No one could function if they spent their time worrying about it. Hence we learn to ignore this ugly possibility as much as possible. However, the following stories include some the most unusual ways of dying imaginable. Some were just plain bad luck and others were the result of incredible stupidity. Several of the incidents sound like scenes from an over-imaginative script writer, but in one bizarre twist, a movie scene actually inspired several young men to try a dangerous stunt. I know for a fact that several of these incidents are absolutely true and I am fairly sure several more are true as well. However, I might add that a couple are too far-fetched even for me.

Decide for yourself.
Decide for yourself.

Bad Night at the Ski Resort

Stratton, VT In a tragic case of bad luck, two college students spending a night outdoors were killed in the collapse of their snow cave, apparently after a piece of heavy machinery dumped snow their shelter while they slept. Jake Shumway, 19, and Robert Carr, 18, freshmen on spring break from Plymouth State College in New Hampshire were found buried in the collapsed cave by friends early Saturday morning at the Stratton Mountain ski resort.

Avid outdoorsmen, Carr and Shumway had gone to Stratton to watch the US Open Snowboarding competition. To save money, they dug a cave at the edge of their parking lot while the rest of their group spent the night in cars, campers, and a motel.

Dan Davis, a county official, said the tragedy was caused when a bucket-loader dumped snow directly on top of the cave. Crews from the ski resort had been sanding the parking lot and moving snow around trying to clear the area for more parking spaces.

Bad Day at the Circus

A circus act in Romania ended in tragedy on 23 January when fire-eater Vlad Cazacu, 43, belched in mid-performance and was blown to bits. Incredibly no one came to his rescue as stunned onlookers assumed this was part of an amazing illusion. Consequently this unfortunate man, who probably could have been saved, was allowed to just lie there and die.

"In the first part of the performance," said fellow circus performer Nicole Antosu, "Vlad held a flammable cocktail in his mouth to spit fire at a burning torch. Somehow, he must have swallowed some of the liquid, because when he burped he triggered an explosion." The Parrot (Accra, Ghana) - 2-8 June 1998

Bad Day in the Forest
Khandal Tripura, 35, of Chinchharipara village in Ramgararh district, Bangaldesh, caught a cobra on 20 July and started playing with it. The snake bit him on the hand, and in his anger he bit the snake's head. He died in hospital the next day. The snake also died. No word on whether they were buried together. Independant - 22 July 1998

Bad Day of Scuba Diving

Arroyo Grande, CA - Fire Authorities in California found a corpse in a burned-out section of forest while assessing the damage done by a forest fire in the Los Padres National Forest. The deceased male was dressed in a full wet suit, complete with a dive tank, flippers, and face mask. A post mortem examination revealed that the person died not from burns but from massive internal injuries.

Dental records provided a positive identification of Henry Williams from nearby Santa Barbara. Investigators then set about determining how a fully-clad diver ended up in the middle of a forest fire.

It was revealed that, on the day of the fire, Mr. Williams went for a diving trip off the Pacific coast - some 20 miles away from the forest. At the same time, firefighters seeking to control the fire as quickly as possible had called in a fleet of helicopters with very large buckets.

The buckets were dropped into the ocean for rapid filling, then flown to the forest fire and emptied. Apparently one helicopter, against regulations, fetched its water too close to the shoreline.

Bad Day at the Zoo

Paderborn, Germany - Zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt fed his constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes. The plugged-up pachyderm finally let fly. Standing next to his elephant, Mr. Riesfeldt suffocated under 200 pounds of elephant manure. Investigators say Riesfeldt, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an enema when the beast unloaded on him.

The sheer force of the elephant’s unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground, where he struck his head on a rock and lay unconscious as the elephant continued to evacuate his bowels on top of him,” said flabbergasted police detective Erik Dern. With no one there to help him, he lay under all that dung for at least an hour before a watchman came along, and during that time he suffocated. It seems to be just one of those freak accidents.

Bad Day at the Zoo, Part Two

Bordeaux, France - A French zoo director was crushed to death on 1 November by a frightened hippopotamus. Jean Ducing was cycling around the park in Pessac, near Bordeaux, when Komir, a seven-year-old male hippo, charged through an electrified fence after an employee driving a tractor stopped to distribute food. M Ducing, aged in his 60s, had trained Komir. Posters for the zoo feature a picture of Komir with M Ducing's head in his mouth. Investigators concluded the animal had fled to Ducing for protection. AFP 2 November; International Herald tribune - 3 November