Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app

Continue in app Continue in browser

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe

Interview With Expert

ADVERTISEMENT

We all know we are going to die one day but the vast majority of us don't know when or how. While data shows the top causes of death worldwide are heart disease and cancer, there are an infinite number of ways we could possibly meet our end.

“She dried up in the desert. Drowned in a hot tub. Danced to death at an east-side night club,” sang Train back in 2012. “She went down in an airplane. Fried getting a suntan. Fell in a cement mixer full of quicksand.” While some of those causes of death sound too odd to be true, it turns out stranger things have happened. Redditor u/Mairon3791 recently racked up 4,000 comments when they asked, “What's an actual cause of death so extremely rare that it's hard to believe it's possible?”

Keep scrolling for some of the most bizarre situations that have led to an unexpected funeral. And if you’re scared of dying (whether it be in a crazy or common way), we invite you to take a look at the discussion we had with a “death expert” on why you shouldn’t worry.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Patricia Stallings, was wrongfully convicted of murder after the death of her son Ryan on September 7, 1989. Because testing seemed to indicate an elevated level of ethylene glycol in Ryan's blood, authorities suspected antifreeze poisoning and they arrested Stallings the next day. She was convicted in 1991, in jail had another baby, diagnosed with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), a rare genetic disorder that can mimic antifreeze poisoning. They both died of an illness that mimics antifreeze poisoning.

tmink0220 , @historyinmemes Report

Final score:

146points

View more comments

It’s quite normal to fear death. Many people do. Surveys show the main reasons people are scared dying are fear of leaving loved ones behind and the actual process of death itself.

For some, it’s a mild fear or worry but for others, it’s extreme and there’s a name for it. Thanatophobia. Also known as death anxiety. It’s estimated up to 10% of people have thanatophobia. And psychologists say you’re more likely to develop it if you’ve had a near-death experience, you have PTSD, an anxiety disorder, if you’re terminally ill or have a serious illness.

ADVERTISEMENT

If you are scared to death of dying, and suspect you might have thanatophobia, Cleveland Clinic suggests the following, “If a fear of death affects your ability to function at school, work or in social situations, seek treatment from a healthcare provider. You may benefit from psychotherapy, which helps you talk through your fear and anxiety.”

#2

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Laughing to death. Fifty-year-old Alex Mitchell could not stop laughing for a continuous 25-minute period—almost the entire length a tv show called “Kung Fu Kapers” and suffered a fatal heart attack as a result of the strain placed on his heart. Alex's widow later sent the Goodies, who were staring in that show, a letter thanking them for making his final moments so pleasant.

Ochib , The Goodies Report

Final score:

140points

View more comments

Sean O’Connor has made dealing with death his life’s mission. He’s the host and producer of the podcast How To Die. He’s also a death coach, doula, an end-of-life companion and a soul carer. He kindly agreed to chat to us in an exclusive interview.

ADVERTISEMENT

And while some might consider his work morbid, he doesn’t. He has a wicked sense of humor. Hopefully, what he had to say will help put some of your fears about death to rest.

#3

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe I remember reading about a famous case of that…a woman named Jennifer Strange died of water intoxication while she was trying to win a Wii. A radio station had a contest called Hold Your Wee for a Wii, where you had to drink as much water as you possibly could without going to the bathroom. She drank nearly two gallons of water and ended up dying. The radio station’s parent company paid over $16M to her family in damages.

ostentia , Adrienn/pexels Report

Final score:

125points

View more comments

#4

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Stingray tail in the heart.

Lord_Teutonic:

Man i miss him steve. he died as he lived; with animals in his heart.

mafnxxx , marek kucharz/pexels Report

Final score:

124points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

I began by asking O'Connor why death? “Obviously, the money,” he joked. Before continuing, “No seriously, it was more of a calling for me. I felt like I wanted to be as ready as possible should I be needed one day. Plus a long shadow of mortality in my family growing up, and the violent society we live in.”

He said he used to host Death Cafes regularly. One thing led to another. Before he knew it, he was doing courses, and then joining a community of soul carers. But what exactly do soul carers, death doulas, and death coaches do?

“I've just spent an hour reading to someone who is paralyzed from a stroke,” he told me. “With others, we might imagine what happens after we close our eyes for the last time. And prepare for that, emotionally. We might use some visualization. I often have to reassure people that it's ok for them to let go, that they have had a good life and done well and that their children will be ok without them, that their work is done. I hesitate to 'tell' people anything though, except reassert what they have told me.”

#5

Two girls I met in my eating disorder support group died in ways people never believed were true. One died of a heart attack while purging due to the electrolyte imbalances caused by binging and purging, and the other died choking on her own vomit while purging. Bulimia (and eating disorders in general) are really disgusting, f****d up illnesses and not enough people realize that.

some-dork Report

Final score:

119points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

#6

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe In 1988 a dog fell from a building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, landed in a woman's head, [unaliving] her and the dog instantaneously, then another lady completely confused watching the event unfolding from the middle of a road, was ran over by a bus; then shortly after that an old man died from a heart attack out of the commotion of seeing both deaths, this happen under a couple of minutes. [Source](https://nicolehenley.medium.com/how-a-dogs-unfortunate-fall-led-to-death-of-3-da6c6b57982).

discardme123now , bdnar/flickr Report

Final score:

113points

View more comments

#7

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Guy’s beard was so long that when he tried to flee a house fire, he tripped over it and broke his neck falling down the stairs. Dude was a mayor too. Hans Steininger, mayor of Braunau in Austria.

Former-Finish4653 , F**koff555 Report

Final score:

111points

View more comments

Since you’re scrolling through a list of completely rare - and sudden - ways to die, it’s only natural you might want to know whether it’s at all possible to prepare for an unexpected death. I asked. On behalf of a friend…

ADVERTISEMENT

“Well, yes, you can definitely prepare for a sudden death by always wearing your best knickers in case you have to take an unexpected ambulance ride - it's not as if you were planning to, after all. One day will be your last. Is it today? Tomorrow? None of us know. The Grim Reaper's receptionist isn't calling to let you know you can be squeezed in next Tuesday at 10am. So be prepared!” quipped O’Connor.

“But for those left behind, we can get rid of our old sex toys and bad poetry, our diaries and journals and broken furniture, chuck away all the things we don't need - tidy up, which makes the impact of our death less onerous for others, and the grieving process easier. After all, we won't be here, what do we care - but we can do this for our loved ones.”

#8

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Greek philosopher Aeschylus was [unalived] when an eagle dropped a turtle on his head, mistaking his bald pate for a rock.

lorgskyegon , Maso Finiguerra Report

Final score:

100points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

#9

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Drowning in the desert.

Guy got caught in a box canyon during a flash flood. The water was quickly reabsorbed into the dry desert soil and left a drown man in the middle of the desert.

Eponarose , waterencyclopedia Report

Final score:

93points

View more comments

#10

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Innocent people have gone to jail for murder because the real explanation for why someone died was so rare and infrequent that courts didn’t believe those explanations as plausible

Two cases off the top of my head: Lindy Chamberlain (a dingo actually did eat her baby) and Kathleen Folbigg (had four children die from a rare genetic mutation).

badgersprite , Lindy Chamberlai Report

Final score:

92points

View more comments

On the topic of ditching things, O’Connor said it’s important to remember we live in a digital era. “Have a place where you store your passwords - your digital death can be very messy otherwise. It gives people access to funds to buy the spirits you'll have served at your wake, if you're Irish,” he said, only half-joking this time.

ADVERTISEMENT

#11

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe It doesn't happen often (in fact, I think it's really freaking rare), but there have been grown adults who have been killed by chickens.

With roosters specifically, a lot of them have a big spur on each leg. This is like, a pretty damn big-a*s horn with a sharp tip. And some of those roosters can get pretty aggressive. Like, they might just decide to jump up at you and try to stab you in the face.

I think as recently as last year, there was a guy who got killed by a rooster. It kicked him in the thigh, but it severed his femoral artery and he bled out in a matter of minutes.

soFATZfilm9000 , Pixabay/pexels Report

Final score:

89points

View more comments

#12

The guy who ate a slug on a dare and got rat lungworm disease.

ForzaFenix Report

Final score:

87points

View more comments

#13

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe My MIL used to be a surgeon. She told me about a patient they had back in the 90s. He died because of holding in a sneeze. Turns out he had an aneurysm in his brain that popped at that moment.

EducationalJelly6121 , Edward Jenner/pexels Report

Final score:

84points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

As you might have noticed, this death expert likes to joke. But as I expected, he admitted his work is not always easy. “When people experience existential dread and are afraid to close their eyes for the last time in case they never open them again... it's hard. As I said earlier - I come with no answers, just a gentle listening presence.”

“I try to remember that we were designed to die. It's natural,” he added. “The over medicalisation of death however has hidden it from us.”

#14

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe That one guy who died after getting stuck face first in an extremely claustrophobic cave. They could get to him, but couldn’t get him out. Just left his body in the cave and cemented the thing shut. Nutty Putty Cave.

Grombrindal18 , ProfessionalShow8373/reddit Report

Final score:

84points

View more comments

#15

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Dying of a broken heart.

The_Town_of_Canada:

Lost my Dad to this.
My Mom died Mother’s Day 2020.
My dad, who never had health issues, was dead within a year. Just completely lost his will to live.

OldTimeyStrongman , RDNE Stock project/pexels Report

Final score:

83points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

#16

I think people turning to stone/bone is utterly horrifying. Like you get hurt and instead of healing you turn to bone, till eventually you're imprisoned by your own body.

internet-arbiter Report

Final score:

82points

View more comments

While it’s highly unlikely you’ll meet your maker in any of the ways discussed here, the fact of the matter is that we are all going to die.

And on that note, O’Connor had these parting words: “No-one has been beyond the veil to tell us what happens on the other side. All we can do is approach that moment with love and awe, even curiosity. Maybe even gratitude. For it would be awful, and awfully boring, if we lived forever.”

#17

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe The show, 1000 Ways To Die, covered a lot of the weirdest ones. The one that I remember being like wtf on was a guy who tied a sausage to his thigh, to make it look like he had huge junk. He cut off circulation throughout the night of dancing and died from cardiac arrest in the club bathroom.

ooglieguy0211 , Paramount Network Report

Final score:

78points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

#18

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe This woman was getting a drink and she had a metal straw in her cup. She slipped and the metal straw punctured her eye and went through her brain. Crazy way to go out.

J120101 , Mark Pazolli/flickr Report

Final score:

78points

View more comments

#19

The strangest I've seen in 20 years of medicine here was when someone's aorta got punctured by a sliver of wire from a grill brush they had accidentally ingested and ultimately died. The proximity to the esophagus is not all that far. Still would have been hard to believe until I saw the imaging. I immediately threw mine away and have used plastic bristle ever since. Not long after, someone tried to off themself by sticking a crossbow to their chin. There was an x-ray I wish I still had of the broadhead lodged in the top of her skull. Made a full recovery. Some of the stuff on TV pale's in comparison to what actually goes on out there.

Final score:

77points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

#20

The uncle of a high school friend hit a deer with his car. Got out to move the deer off the road. It was stunned but still alive. Kicked him the forehead and instantly killed him before it jumped up and ran into the woods.

Thetechguru_net Report

Final score:

73points

View more comments

#21

People in my family keep getting struck by lightning. There was a bit on unsolved mysteries about it. Guess someone pissed off Thor or something. I was narrowly missed and my dad was missed. Grandpa was hit and tossed off a ladder and lived.

17_blind_Ninjas Report

Final score:

70points

View more comments

#22

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Fatal Familial Insomnia: you can't sleep, and you don't sleep, until you die, and it runs in the family.

ScrwFlandrs , cottonbro studio/pexels Report

Final score:

69points

View more comments

#23

Look, I don't know if it's extremely rare but in this day and age it's pretty unheard of because of the access to healthcare the 1st world country has. My friend died of an ear infection last year. For context, we are in Australia, so we dont pay for emergency hospital visits- cost of treatment was not an issue. She went to the hospital 3 times and was turned away twice. The third time the doctors basically told her the infection was so bad they could not treat it. The next day she was in an induced coma and 2 days later she was gone.

CityoftheMoon17 Report

Final score:

67points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

#24

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe I heard that a sinkhole formed under some man's bedroom & took him with it. It was so deep that they couldn't find him. Definitely a unique death situation.

cartoonsarcasm , Eric Heather Haddox/flickr Report

Final score:

66points

View more comments

#25

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Prion diseases. For some random reason a protein gets folded the wrong way and totally f***s you up. It’s not alive, you can’t kill it or fight it with d***s or antibiotics. Your own immune system is helpless against it. It causes more proteins to become misfolded and spreads through your body. Even after you die your corpse is a hazard because the misfolded proteins are *still there, waiting*.

Jeramy_Jones , PoopAcidMaker Report

Final score:

66points

View more comments

#26

Every year a small handful of people still have polio on their death certificates. Post-polio syndrome can develop decades after a person is first exposed to polio, and it’s occasionally severe enough to kill someone.

othybear Report

Final score:

66points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

See Also on Bored Panda

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#27

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Dancing plague of 1518.
By August, the dancing epidemic had claimed as many as 400 victims.
The Strasbourg dancing plague might sound like the stuff of legend, but it’s well documented in 16th-century historical records. It’s also not the only known incident of its kind. Similar manias took place in Switzerland, Germany and Holland, though few were as large—or deadly—as the one triggered in 1518.

Zerowantuthri , Pieter Brueghel the Elder Report

Final score:

66points

View more comments

#28

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe A 60-year-old fisherman trying to snap a photo of a beaver on a roadside in Belarus is dead after the rodent attacked. The beaver bit an artery in the man's leg, which caused him to bleed to death. “The character of the wound was totally shocking.”

derekthechowchow , Denitsa Kireva/pexels Report

Final score:

66points

View more comments

#29

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Trying to impress your dad by riding in a submersible that never got fully certified to dive to the depth required to get to the titanic.

wy1dfire , NOAA Photo Library/flickr Report

Final score:

63points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#30

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe When I was an emergency call taker we had an accident where the guy carrying his plate back to the kitchen, slipped, fell and cut his own throat with broken plate shard. He bled out before services were able to get there.

kiyiya101 , cottonbro studio/pexels Report

Final score:

63points

View more comments

#31

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Being hit in the sternum at just the right moment to interfere with the heart's beating. It can't be predicted or avoided with any consistency, and leaves no clinical evidence - if it happens and someone with CPR skills isn't around, the person just dies, without a mark on them.

halloweeninstepford:

That happened to a lacrosse player in my high school in 2000. Dropped dead right on the field. It ended up changing and creating laws in New York.

Melenduwir , NEOSiAM 2024+/pexels Report

Final score:

58points

View more comments

#32

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Some rich lady in the early days of automobiles was known for always wearing long scarfs and one day it got caught in her wheels and snaped her neck.

Snake_Plissken224 , Ksenia Kartasheva/pexels Report

Final score:

57points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

See Also on Bored Panda

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#33

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Drowning in an elevator.

A couple in Tel Aviv lived in a building which had an elevator going down to the parking garage. Due to very heavy rainfall, the elevator flooded while they were in it.

eyl569 , Kelly/pexels Report

Final score:

54points

View more comments

#34

Wasn’t there a Japanese boy pretending to be a snake, his parents thought he was possessed and they killed him? It may be on the weird list of deaths on wiki I remember.

Liuniam:

Yeah but he was a grown man not a little boy and his father was deeply religious so he head butted him to death

Final score:

54points

View more comments

#35

I had a co-worker whose daughter died during a tonsillectomy. The co-worker hadn't even taken the day off, because a tonsillectomy is so mundane, so when she got the phone call.....rough stuff.

Final score:

54points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#36

I read once of a world class mountain climber who fell down his stairs at home and died.

UnadvisedOpinion Report

Final score:

54points

View more comments

#37

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe I used to work with a man who had an elderly relative come to the hospital with symptoms suggesting a stroke, and he died later that evening. I don't remember all the details, but everyone thought the family might be sitting on a big fat lawsuit, until the labs all came back. The relative had a type of leukemia that is diagnosed about 10 times a year in the U.S., and they've never come up with a chemotherapy protocol for it because nobody has ever lived long enough for them to do so.

wilderlowerwolves , Szilárd Kalmár/pexels Report

Final score:

53points

View more comments

#38

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe The 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia, the Suda, chronicles a folkloric story of lawgiver Draco's death in the Aeginetan theatre: in a traditional ancient Greek show of approval, his supporters "threw so many hats and shirts and cloaks on his head that he suffocated, and was buried in that same theatre".

IanGecko , dronepicr Report

Final score:

52points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#39

If you jump into a fresh water lake without holding your nose, and if water gets up your nose, that’s how some people have (rarely) gotten a brain-eating amoeba that will kill you within 2 weeks. Naegleria fowleri is “typically found in bodies of warm freshwater, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, hot springs, warm water discharge from industrial or power plants, geothermal well water, poorly maintained or minimally chlorinated (under 0.5 mg/m^3 residual) swimming pools, water heaters, soil, and pipes connected to tap water” and “can be pathogenic, causing an extremely rare, sudden, severe and usually fatal brain infection called naegleriasis or primary amoebic meningoencephalitis” which has a 98.5% fatality rate within 1 to 2 weeks after getting infected water up your nose.

masterwad Report

Final score:

52points

View more comments

#40

Driving down a quiet country road when a giant hay bale dislodges from the hill you’re driving past, crashes into your car just at the wrong moment as you’re passing and kills you.

Vale Mike Edwards.

BneBikeCommuter Report

Final score:

51points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

See Also on Bored Panda

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#41

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Molar sepsis… a man died where I live from an infected molar… kinda crazy right? It's not super rare I know but I had never heard of someone passing away from that personally….

UnalomeParadoxMoon , Pavel Danilyuk/pexels Report

Final score:

50points

View more comments

#42

Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis. For some people, eating a certain food and then exercising just after eating that food can send them into anaphylactic shock. I had a friend who nearly died from eating celery before a run. The only reason he lived is that two weeks before that, he learned his next-door neighbors were EMTs after they responded to the scene of him crashing his road bike (pedal, not motor) going 45mph down a hill and hitting gravel.

HBICharles Report

Final score:

45points

View more comments

#43

Shallow water blackout is crazy given how often people swim underwater in pools - you’re just holding your breath swimming under the water and you are over-oxygenated so you don’t get the brain signal that you need to breathe. Feels like you could keep swimming for ages. Then you pass out and drown. I don’t think I’ve ever been with a group of guys in a pool who haven’t seen who can swim the furthest without coming up for air. But I know someone who died of it.

MissCarterCameWithUs Report

Final score:

44points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

See Also on Bored Panda

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

#44

Internal decapitation.Head still attached but spinal cord severed below brain stem.

Dindu-sumfin1975 Report

Final score:

42points

View more comments

#45

Decapitation by an elevator.

orphan_blud:

Every time I enter or exit an elevator I imagine it falling and cutting me in half.

Final score:

41points

View more comments

#46

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe I once read about a guy who got impaled by dry spaghetti in a kitchen explosion.

7hyenasinatrenchcoat , State Farm/flickr Report

Final score:

40points

View more comments

#47

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the tip of a skyscraper broken down and fell to a car on the road. It smashed the car so deep in the ground, that they were never able to recover the car and the driver who died there. It's been 10 years and he is buried underground in his car.

Final score:

40points

View more comments

ADVERTISEMENT

#48

SCA (sudden cardiac arrest) my best friend was literally laughing across the kitchen table from me and the next few seconds she dropped dead her heart stopped due to SCA .. I did manage to keep her body flowing with blood and oxygen with strenuous cpr they said she literally was a miracle and I was a angel personally it's something that makes me both fear time and value it considerably. But they said she was deceased before she hit the floor.

Sad-Confusion4483 Report

Final score:

37points

View more comments

#49

That one person who accidentally swallowed molten metal because of a fire, his doctor didnt believe him so he died and when doing the autopsy it was revealed that he did swallow some. That autopsy report sounded so fake that some doctors thought that he had lied in the report.

lolipoppy_sugardaddy Report

Final score:

36points

View more comments

#50

“Crazy Way To Go Out”: 50 Ways People Died That Are Almost Hard To Believe Sachi Hidaka and his wife Tomio died from heart attacks during their first attempt to make love. The chance of suffering from a heart attack during sex is incredibly rare. But in the case of Schi Hidaka and his wife, Tomio. The Japanese couple were married for fourteen years but were too shy to have sex. Later one night they both got drunk while having plum wine and they decided to finally make love.

FoxyBiGal , Ron Lach/pexels Report

Final score:

16points

View more comments

Note: this post originally had 76 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Robyn Smith

Robyn is an award-winning journalist who has produced work for several international media outlets. Made in Africa and exported to the world, she is obsessed with travel and the allure of new places. A lover of words and visuals, Robyn is part of the Bored Panda writing team. This Panda has two bamboo tattoos: A map of Africa & the words "Be Like The Bamboo... Bend Never Break."

Robyn is an award-winning journalist who has produced work for several international media outlets. Made in Africa and exported to the world, she is obsessed with travel and the allure of new places. A lover of words and visuals, Robyn is part of the Bored Panda writing team. This Panda has two bamboo tattoos: A map of Africa & the words "Be Like The Bamboo... Bend Never Break."

Ieva Pečiulytė

I'm a Visual Editor for Bored Panda. I’m also an analog collage artist. My love for images and experience in layering goes well with both creating collages by hand and working with digital images as an Editor. When I’m not using my kitchen area as an art studio I also do various experiments making my own cosmetics or brewing kombucha. When I’m not at home you would most definitely find me attending a concert or walking my dog.

I'm a Visual Editor for Bored Panda. I’m also an analog collage artist. My love for images and experience in layering goes well with both creating collages by hand and working with digital images as an Editor. When I’m not using my kitchen area as an art studio I also do various experiments making my own cosmetics or brewing kombucha. When I’m not at home you would most definitely find me attending a concert or walking my dog.

What do you think ?

Tiny Dancer 3 months ago

As some know, I lost my hubby last year. He choked on a bite of pizza. Not "crazy" and certainly not a rare way to go, but it only happened because he fought (and won! 5 years cancer-free when he passed) Stage 4 throat cancer with chemo and 33 shots of radiation in his neck. He had to have a trach for a while so he could breathe. Over 10 years, his throat went through a lot. For weeks, I'd had to give him a little thump on the back now and then when he was eating to get something that was stuck moving. His poor ragged throat just couldn't take much food. So, one fateful evening when we weren't sitting next to each other, a stupid bite of pizza took him out. He was only 60. Crazy, huh?

31points

Jan Castle 3 months ago

I'm truly sorry, we can see this kind of stories with a morbid humour and make jokes about "weird" ways to die, but if we see the details behind as you share with us, i think it make us see we are so fragile. And at the same time, despite all the bitter and all the bad...we are a constant miracle happening every second, i'm really sorry for your loss and i hope you can find strong and relieve in the good memories and the nice thing of the present.

20points

Load More Replies...

Michelle C 3 months ago

🫂 i’m so sorry to see this and I’m praying for you as you grieve…

5points

Libstak 3 months ago

I'm so sorry, it doesn't seem fair after all he battled and survived. I hope you have made peace with the randomness of fate but mostly I hope you feel all the hugs and strength being sent your way.

4points

nana theater 3 months ago (edited)

This "unalive"-nonsense is so incredibly stupid. Those people have been killed. Killed. Killed.Killed. Dead People. Dead.

21points

Squirrel Chaser 3 months ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Load More Replies...

Peter Parker 3 months ago

FFS, the word is KILLED you pansies!

13points

BoredHouseKitty 3 months ago

Yeah, pretty ironic when the stories are more gruesome than certain words they censor

8points

Load More Replies...

Emma S 3 months ago (edited)

Refeeding syndrome happens when a person starts eating after a period of malnutrition. You often see it in people that have been in active addiction and then get clean and sober because they haven't eaten a substantial meal sometimes in years. The same for people with eating disorders. Malnourished people should have a gradual increase in calorie intake because if food is reintroduced too quickly it can cause shifts in electrolytes and in some cases it can be fatal.

6points

Awkward lady 3 months ago

This happened to concentration camp victims, who were fed a normal diet after liberation and unfortunately their bodies couldn't cope with that.

6points

Load More Replies...

CD King 3 months ago

Man man who was out of town for a few days came home to find out his mom had died. He was very upset and drank some moonshine he had brewed. He died the same way his mom did by drinking dodgy moonshine.

6points

Justin Tyme 3 months ago

What is a Man man?

4points

Load More Replies...

Justin Tyme 3 months ago

Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this list every month. It's easier than finding new content.

5points

Mark Fuller 3 months ago

So we literally have a post about death and dying... but cannot use the word killed. FFS Bored Panda - sort it out!!

4points

T'Mar of Vulcan 3 months ago

The British magazine Fortean Times always has fascinating lists of strange deaths.

4points

Luis Hernandez Dauajare 3 months ago

Best historical case I know: Robert Liston, a British surgeon of the XIX century, holds the record from the only surgery with a 300% mortality rate: he was amputating someone's leg (this was before anesthesia) and did it so fast that he accidentally cut off two of his assistant's fingers. The patient and the assistant died of infection, and one elderly gentleman, who was splashed with blood, thought he had been wounded and died of a heart attack.

3points

Phred 3 months ago

One of my relatives died when a headstone fell on her.

3points

Lara Verne 3 months ago (edited)

My grand-uncle was beheaded. He was driving his car uphill, and the truck in front of his car was carrying some metal sheets. It wasn't secured properly. One metal sheet fell off the truck on grand-uncle's car and sharp edge went through his car and cut off his head.

3points

Jeremy Klaxon 3 months ago

I left after the second "unalived"

1point

BossyHossy1 Premium 3 months ago

Here is a cautionary tale for those planning a destination wedding/honeymoon. A mid-20's couple married in a small island nation at an exclusive resort with private beaches. Apparently, they engaged in a lot of nude swimming and in the water sex. They come home and the wife sees her ob-gyn for itching and burning. By the time we got her everything down there looked like hamburger and she passed away a short time later. Small island nations, and many other countries, dump raw sewage into the ocean and other bodies of water. This leads to an abundance of flesh eating bacteria near their beaches.

1point

My O My 3 months ago

How very awful and painful!

0points

Load More Replies...

jjdubs W 3 months ago

OMG I couldn't stand to read all of these things. Really awful.

1point

Arenite 3 months ago

First pharaoh of Egypt-died when “carried off by a hippopotamus “. He’s the guy you unified Upper and Lower Egypt into 1 kingdom, did other important things but all I can remember about him is how he died, i think his name was Menes.

0points

Andy Frobig 3 months ago (edited)

I knew a guy who was said to have died three ways. He was riding a moped on a highway around 3 AM, and was on an overpass over another highway. He was almost certainly high AF, because he usually was. A truck going in the opposite direction made a left turn in front of him and cut him off. He rode into the side of the truck and bounced off, fell off of the overpass, and was run over by another truck on the lower roadway. RIP Howie Corman

0points

Looz-ashae 3 months ago (edited)

You know what, Bored Panda, [HAVE A PENIS INSERTED IN] your policies

0points

My O My 3 months ago

Friend of a collegue died by a car falling on his head. He was walking past a parking garage under construction, a car parked in there started to roll because it wasn't put in gear and fell out of the garage on top of this poor guy

0points

Tobias Reaper 3 months ago

a doctor during Victorian times was doing an amputation on a patients leg he cut so fast through the leg he accidently severed 3 of his own fingers. He died from blood loss the patient died as a result and nurse who was watching had a heart attack and died. Its the only surgical procedure with a 300% mortality rate

0points

brittany 3 months ago

look up the death of Rasputin, or rather the ways they tried to unalive Rasputin in comparison to what actually ended up killing him. dude was not gonna go quietly into the light

0points

Douglas Tucker 3 months ago

To add a twist to the comments, just recently, many of our current pool of America voters quickly and seriously applied "God's Will" to a close call of someone who touched their hearts and they feel they have an intense connection with. Had this been a horrific death and not an injury, I wonder if that particular group of voters would use that term of "God's Will" or would it be the opposing group of voters saying it. After reading of these incidents, we might guess any of these odd incidents of death are just bad luck, destiny, stupidity, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the familiar, "Why him/her?" added by friends and family members. Bottomline enjoy the time you have and continue to be a wonderful human because "stuff" really does happens.

0points

Caroline Nagel 3 months ago

On Wkipedia you can find an extensive list of unusual deaths: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths

0points

Libstak 3 months ago (edited)

There was a lady who had breast implants that had some sort of gas in them, not approved. The implants blew up like a balloon while she was in a plane at 10,000 feet or sometching close to that due to change in air pressure and exploded destroying her heart and lungs.

0points

Freya the Wanderer 3 months ago

This is an urban legend that has been around for over 70 years

1point

Load More Replies...

SkippityBoppityBoo 3 months ago

This comment has been deleted.

-1point

SkippityBoppityBoo 3 months ago

I deleted said comment because it mentioned death. But yes, I've faced the very real possibility of dying. Been through a lot... So now? I do joke about it because it's how I deal with things.... I apologise if I've offended anyone.

1point

Load More Replies...

Piwakawaka 3 months ago

Maybe a bit insensitive but, "Set fire to your hair, poke a stick at a grizzly bear, eat medicine that's out of date, use your private parts as pirahna bait ..."

-1point

Tiny Dancer 3 months ago

As some know, I lost my hubby last year. He choked on a bite of pizza. Not "crazy" and certainly not a rare way to go, but it only happened because he fought (and won! 5 years cancer-free when he passed) Stage 4 throat cancer with chemo and 33 shots of radiation in his neck. He had to have a trach for a while so he could breathe. Over 10 years, his throat went through a lot. For weeks, I'd had to give him a little thump on the back now and then when he was eating to get something that was stuck moving. His poor ragged throat just couldn't take much food. So, one fateful evening when we weren't sitting next to each other, a stupid bite of pizza took him out. He was only 60. Crazy, huh?

31points

Jan Castle 3 months ago

I'm truly sorry, we can see this kind of stories with a morbid humour and make jokes about "weird" ways to die, but if we see the details behind as you share with us, i think it make us see we are so fragile. And at the same time, despite all the bitter and all the bad...we are a constant miracle happening every second, i'm really sorry for your loss and i hope you can find strong and relieve in the good memories and the nice thing of the present.

20points

Load More Replies...

Michelle C 3 months ago

🫂 i’m so sorry to see this and I’m praying for you as you grieve…

5points

Libstak 3 months ago

I'm so sorry, it doesn't seem fair after all he battled and survived. I hope you have made peace with the randomness of fate but mostly I hope you feel all the hugs and strength being sent your way.

4points

nana theater 3 months ago (edited)

This "unalive"-nonsense is so incredibly stupid. Those people have been killed. Killed. Killed.Killed. Dead People. Dead.

21points

Squirrel Chaser 3 months ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Load More Replies...

Peter Parker 3 months ago

FFS, the word is KILLED you pansies!

13points

BoredHouseKitty 3 months ago

Yeah, pretty ironic when the stories are more gruesome than certain words they censor

8points

Load More Replies...

Emma S 3 months ago (edited)

Refeeding syndrome happens when a person starts eating after a period of malnutrition. You often see it in people that have been in active addiction and then get clean and sober because they haven't eaten a substantial meal sometimes in years. The same for people with eating disorders. Malnourished people should have a gradual increase in calorie intake because if food is reintroduced too quickly it can cause shifts in electrolytes and in some cases it can be fatal.

6points

Awkward lady 3 months ago

This happened to concentration camp victims, who were fed a normal diet after liberation and unfortunately their bodies couldn't cope with that.

6points

Load More Replies...

CD King 3 months ago

Man man who was out of town for a few days came home to find out his mom had died. He was very upset and drank some moonshine he had brewed. He died the same way his mom did by drinking dodgy moonshine.

6points

Justin Tyme 3 months ago

What is a Man man?

4points

Load More Replies...

Justin Tyme 3 months ago

Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this list every month. It's easier than finding new content.

5points

Mark Fuller 3 months ago

So we literally have a post about death and dying... but cannot use the word killed. FFS Bored Panda - sort it out!!

4points

T'Mar of Vulcan 3 months ago

The British magazine Fortean Times always has fascinating lists of strange deaths.

4points

Luis Hernandez Dauajare 3 months ago

Best historical case I know: Robert Liston, a British surgeon of the XIX century, holds the record from the only surgery with a 300% mortality rate: he was amputating someone's leg (this was before anesthesia) and did it so fast that he accidentally cut off two of his assistant's fingers. The patient and the assistant died of infection, and one elderly gentleman, who was splashed with blood, thought he had been wounded and died of a heart attack.

3points

Phred 3 months ago

One of my relatives died when a headstone fell on her.

3points

Lara Verne 3 months ago (edited)

My grand-uncle was beheaded. He was driving his car uphill, and the truck in front of his car was carrying some metal sheets. It wasn't secured properly. One metal sheet fell off the truck on grand-uncle's car and sharp edge went through his car and cut off his head.

3points

Jeremy Klaxon 3 months ago

I left after the second "unalived"

1point

BossyHossy1 Premium 3 months ago

Here is a cautionary tale for those planning a destination wedding/honeymoon. A mid-20's couple married in a small island nation at an exclusive resort with private beaches. Apparently, they engaged in a lot of nude swimming and in the water sex. They come home and the wife sees her ob-gyn for itching and burning. By the time we got her everything down there looked like hamburger and she passed away a short time later. Small island nations, and many other countries, dump raw sewage into the ocean and other bodies of water. This leads to an abundance of flesh eating bacteria near their beaches.

1point

My O My 3 months ago

How very awful and painful!

0points

Load More Replies...

jjdubs W 3 months ago

OMG I couldn't stand to read all of these things. Really awful.

1point

Arenite 3 months ago

First pharaoh of Egypt-died when “carried off by a hippopotamus “. He’s the guy you unified Upper and Lower Egypt into 1 kingdom, did other important things but all I can remember about him is how he died, i think his name was Menes.

0points

Andy Frobig 3 months ago (edited)

I knew a guy who was said to have died three ways. He was riding a moped on a highway around 3 AM, and was on an overpass over another highway. He was almost certainly high AF, because he usually was. A truck going in the opposite direction made a left turn in front of him and cut him off. He rode into the side of the truck and bounced off, fell off of the overpass, and was run over by another truck on the lower roadway. RIP Howie Corman

0points

Looz-ashae 3 months ago (edited)

You know what, Bored Panda, [HAVE A PENIS INSERTED IN] your policies

0points

My O My 3 months ago

Friend of a collegue died by a car falling on his head. He was walking past a parking garage under construction, a car parked in there started to roll because it wasn't put in gear and fell out of the garage on top of this poor guy

0points

Tobias Reaper 3 months ago

a doctor during Victorian times was doing an amputation on a patients leg he cut so fast through the leg he accidently severed 3 of his own fingers. He died from blood loss the patient died as a result and nurse who was watching had a heart attack and died. Its the only surgical procedure with a 300% mortality rate

0points

brittany 3 months ago

look up the death of Rasputin, or rather the ways they tried to unalive Rasputin in comparison to what actually ended up killing him. dude was not gonna go quietly into the light

0points

Douglas Tucker 3 months ago

To add a twist to the comments, just recently, many of our current pool of America voters quickly and seriously applied "God's Will" to a close call of someone who touched their hearts and they feel they have an intense connection with. Had this been a horrific death and not an injury, I wonder if that particular group of voters would use that term of "God's Will" or would it be the opposing group of voters saying it. After reading of these incidents, we might guess any of these odd incidents of death are just bad luck, destiny, stupidity, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the familiar, "Why him/her?" added by friends and family members. Bottomline enjoy the time you have and continue to be a wonderful human because "stuff" really does happens.

0points

Caroline Nagel 3 months ago

On Wkipedia you can find an extensive list of unusual deaths: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths

0points

Libstak 3 months ago (edited)

There was a lady who had breast implants that had some sort of gas in them, not approved. The implants blew up like a balloon while she was in a plane at 10,000 feet or sometching close to that due to change in air pressure and exploded destroying her heart and lungs.

0points

Freya the Wanderer 3 months ago

This is an urban legend that has been around for over 70 years

1point

Load More Replies...

SkippityBoppityBoo 3 months ago

This comment has been deleted.

-1point

SkippityBoppityBoo 3 months ago

I deleted said comment because it mentioned death. But yes, I've faced the very real possibility of dying. Been through a lot... So now? I do joke about it because it's how I deal with things.... I apologise if I've offended anyone.

1point

Load More Replies...

Piwakawaka 3 months ago

Maybe a bit insensitive but, "Set fire to your hair, poke a stick at a grizzly bear, eat medicine that's out of date, use your private parts as pirahna bait ..."

-1point

You May Like

“For The Weird, Strange, Odd And Bizarre”: 30 Pics From This Interesting Group (New Pics)

Shelly Fourer

“Window Cleaners”: 50 Industries That Are Way More Dark And Sinister Than Most Realize

Ieva Pečiulytė

Back to Homepage

More about Curiosities

Next in Curiosities

Related on Bored Panda

Related on Bored Panda

Word Search

Sudoku

Crossword

Word Flower

WordroW

Jigsaw

Picdoku

Killer Sudoku

Kriss Kross

Trending on Bored Panda

Also on Bored Panda