What a Way to Go: 10 Unusual Ways to Die

No matter how rich or important you may be, unfortunately there is no way of avoiding death.  One day we are all going to shuffle off the mortal coil.  Most people will die under normal circumstances, but there may a handful of unfortunate people, who will be forever remembered due to an unusual death.  Please see below my top 10 unusual ways to die.

1. Death by Laughter

Alex Mitchell of King’s Lynn, England, died laughing, whilst watching an episode of The Goodies on 24th March 1975.  He allegedly laughed continuously for 25 minutes whilst watching a sketch called Kung Fu Kapers, until he died of a heart attack.  After coming to term with her husband’s death, Mr Mitchell’s widow wrote to The Goodies team, thanking them for giving her husband so much enjoyment, before his death.

2. Death by Hair Dye

There must be hundreds of thousands of women (and men) who colour their hair each year, and have no adverse effects or reactions.  Unfortunately for others, an allergy to one of the many chemicals contained within the hair dye can be deadly.  One such example was Mrs Narjinder Devi.  On August 25th 2000, Mrs Devi  suffered a severe allergic reaction  and died from anaphylactic shock following using a brand name hair colorant.

3 Death by Beer Flood

The thought of swimming in 323,000 gallons of beer, would probably sound like heaven to some people.. Unfortunately for some, this became a reality and a nightmare on 17th October 1814, in London.  A large vat containing fermenting beer at the Meux‘s Brewery, exploded, causing neighbouring vats to rupture as well.  A raging tidal wave, swept through the slum areas of St Giles parish killing 9 people.  8 were drowned after being smashed against the sides of brick buildings, 1 died several days later  from alcohol poisoning.

4. Death by Lava Lamp

The lava lamp; funky, retro and must have furniture from the 70’s.  Not really considered a lethal weapon (unless you pick it up with your bare hands once warmed up).  However, in November 2004, Philip Quinn was killed by a lava lamp.  He had placed the lava lamp on a stove, to observe what would happen if it was heated up by an external heat source.  Unfortunately for Philip, he was observing at a very close distance.  The lava lamp grew so hot it exploded, shooting shards of glass in all directions, one shard piercing Philip’s chest and lodging in his heart, which eventually led to his death.