Morbid & Unusual Deaths

Death is the final chapter of our lives. It knocks when least expected, although a disease of some sort almost always causes our demise. Death must have a sense of humor. While rare, it sometimes knocks on a person's door in unexpected and unusual ways. It's a grim reminder of just how unpredictable death can be.

Child's Organs Ripped Out by Pool Drain

On June 29, 2007, a tragic pool accident destroyed 6-year-old Abigail Taylor's organs. She had a rare transplant surgery to replace her small bowel, liver, and pancreas, but sadly, her injuries were too catastrophic, and she passed away 10 months later in April 2008 after multiple setbacks, including needing kidney dialysis in March to remove excess fluid in her body and many infections.

In February 2007, she began chemotherapy after doctors determined she had developed a cancerous condition known as PTLD that organ transplants can trigger.

Abigail was injured when she inadvertently sat on a wading pool drain at the Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park. Its powerful suction ripped out part of her intestinal tract.

The Attack of the Dishwasher

In May 2003, a woman from Airdrie died after falling into her dishwasher. She placed knives in the machine with the blade side up. She was stabbed to death. If you ever wondered why you should load knives into the dishwasher correctly, this is reason number 1,309. 

Self-Driving Car Strikes Woman Crossing Street

In the early 2010s, self-driving cars were being tested in controlled areas in Arizona. Touted as the future of driving, the vehicles featured LiDAR sensors, cameras, and other advanced technology designed to operate without human intervention.

On March 18, 2018, in Tempe, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg died when an Uber self-driving test vehicle struck her as she crossed the street with her bicycle. A safety driver named Rafaela Vasquez sat behind the wheel, but had been streaming a show on her phone when the vehicle, driving in autonomous mode, struck Herzberg.

R&B Singer Dies After Falling on a Wine Glass

Another unusual death shocked R&B fans in 2015 when Charmayne "Maxee" Maxwell, 46, one of the three women composing the group Brownstone, died in a tragic accident in her Los Angeles home.

On February 28, 2015, Maxwell's husband, Carsten Schack, found her body suffering from a stab wound to the neck. Surveillance cameras in the home determined that Maxwell had been drinking wine when she lost her balance and fell backward. The glass shattered. The shards stabbed her in the neck when she fell onto the floor.

Man's Clothing Suffocates Him to Death

Mark Fidrych died on April 13, 2009, at the age of 54, when his clothing became entangled in a power take-off drive shift as he worked underneath his dump truck. He suffocated to death. Fidrych was a former MLB pitcher with the Detroit Tigers.

The Great (Airplane) Escape

A passenger smuggled a crocodile aboard a Filair Jet L-410 flying in the Republic of Congo on August 25, 2010. The crocodile escaped its cage, frightening passengers so severely that they all rushed toward the front of the airplane, causing it to become unbalanced. The pilot lost control and crashed. Only one person and the crocodile survived; however, locals later killed the animal with a machete.

Love in an Elevator

Dean Yaakov Shoshani and Stav Harari died trapped inside a basement elevator during flooding in Tel Aviv in March 2021. Officials launched an investigation into their deaths, suspecting someone had killed them. However, they determined the deaths were accidental, saying the rainwater grew at such rapid speeds that they could not escape the elevator to safety. 

What is the most unusual death you know about?