CW: Deaths and accidents.
News of someone's death is always sad.
In some cases, one can at least take comfort in the fact that the deceased at least lived a long, fulfilling life.
In other cases, however, news of someone's death is an unspeakable tragedy.
Particularly if this person was still young, and had so much more to offer in the world.
Be it a tragic accident or as the victim of an act of cold blood, some stories are so heartbreaking that even those who never met them can't help but shed a tear.
Redditor StrawberryPunk82 was curious to hear some of the worst stories of people's deaths people had ever heard, leading them to ask:
"What is the worst way you've ever heard of someone dying?"
Earthquake
"In the recent earthquake in Turkey, a woman and her baby in her arms got stuck after their building collapsed."
"They were able to talk to and hear outside but unable to come out."
"People around were trying to relax her, saying that help is on the way. (the weather was extremely cold)."
"After a couple hours, the woman said, 'leave me, go look for other people, my baby is dead'."
"Makes me get the chills."- fruitysucculent
Hot Air Balloon Accident
"I knew some folks who died when a hot air balloon crashed into power lines."
"The balloon ignites and basically becomes plastic/nylon magma that covered the basket and all of the people inside it."- 72Rancheast
Wind Turbine Accident
"There's a photo of 2 guys on a giant wind turbine that caught on fire."
"Probably not the worst, but man seeing that photo of them hugging each other right before was like getting punched in the chest."- 1Oshester
Farming Accident
"I'm a farmer."
"One of the neighbors was baling hay and got out to clear a jam with the round baler running."
"His leg got caught in the tines, and he was pulled into the machine and crushed, then spun around and around for over an hour before he was found."
"Absolutely terrible way to go."- ianj2807
Radiation Poisoning
"Hisashi Ouchi."
"83 days of radiation poisoning."- Cabbages6969
Amusement Park Ride Gone Wrong
"I once read about an amusement park tragedy where there was a log ride that collapsed, and the carrier dropped the people essentially into a gear meat grinder."
"2 children survived out of like a dozen people, by clinging onto the safety bars until their arms went numb."
"The emergency crew who came to save them described it as the most horrific thing they ever witnessed, and many still need therapy to this day to help them cope with the aftermath they witnessed."- noisyturtle
Burned Alive
"Burning alive has always seemed about as bad as it can get to me."- penguinpolitician
Sawmill Accident
"I remember when I was young hearing about an incident in a sawmill in a neighboring town."
"Three guys crawled inside the mill’s debarking machine, basically a giant drum lined with teeth that tear bark off of sawn logs."
"They climbed inside to do some kind of maintenance but didn’t lock the machine out properly."
"I think basically when the next shift arrived they didn’t know anyone was in there and they kicked it back on to start their day."
"They almost literally were put through an industrial wood chipper."- aerfgadf
Drowning
"I saw a video a few days ago of a mother of 2 wanting to do a polar plunge so they opened up a hole in a channel and as soon as she jumped in the current of the water underneath swept her away under the ice and she died."
"Imagine the panic that went through her mind as she was trapped under the ice not to mention the freezing temperatures she exposed herself to."
"That has to be one way I don’t want to go."- Huaco_kid
Desperate To Fit In
"At my university, there was a guy who wanted to sneak in at an event at a student club."
"So he thought it would be an awfully good idea to climb down the chimney."
"And he ofc got stuck."
"And this was just before the summer leave, so the entire place closed down while he was still stuck in the chimney."
"When they came back they discovered the stench from his corpse."
"He must have thirsted or suffocated to death in that place."
"Hour after hour just sitting there."
"Really bad way to go."- GubbenJonson
Trapped In Their Own Home
"Man got trapped in his closet by a fallen cabinet."
"He was recluse so nobody was coming to check on him."
"He realized he had to save himself, and broke through the ceiling and broke a pipe off, intending to tunnel his way out."
"It was a water pipe, and cold water started hitting down from above."
"It was several days before he died, trapped in the closet with water beating on his head."
"The only reason he was found was because the neighbor stopped hearing him banging for help, and suddenly got nervous and called the police to check on things."
"Secure your heavy furniture, y'all."- bruicejuice
Australian Bushfires
"In Australia during the bushfires - a family were cut off and trapped so they jumped into their water tank to avoid the fire."
"Boiled alive."- Plebarian
Choking At The Dinner Table
'My friend's husband choked to death at the dinner table in front of his wife and young kids last year."- 2021Blankman
Caving
"Basically any caving incident where someone got stuck and couldn't be rescued so they just had to stay pinned there til they died."
"Nutty Putty is probably the most well known one but I read about one recently where someone got stuck in a pit where there was really poor air flow, and the whole rescue team wasn't able to get them out so they just had to stay there slowly poisoning the air around them with their own exhaled CO2 until it suffocated them."
- MerylSquirrel
Death is always heartbreaking. And these stories definitely unlocked some new fears for us.
But not all deaths are tragic, and absolutely no one deserved what these poor people went through.
Fox News
John McDonnell/Getty Images
@eltokh/X
