Man Dies Getting Head Caught Under Movie Seat

A customer taking in a movie at a theater in England died of a heart attack after his head got trapped in one of the theater’s seats as he tried to retrieve his phone, according to a local report.

The incident at the Vue cinema in Birmingham’s Star City entertainment complex was described as “a freak accident’ by The Birmingham Mail. The local newspaper reported that it occurred after the customer dropped his phone in between two of the theater’s Gold Class seats (electric reclining seats) and tried to bend down to retrieve it, only to have the  the seat’s electric footrest fall on his head, leaving him trapped. The Birmingham Mail reports that the footrest was stuck on the man’s head while his partner and theater staff tried to free him before eventually having to break the footrest.

According to the BBC, representatives from the West Midlands Ambulance Service were notified of a patient in cardiac arrest and headed to the scene to administer life support on the customer, successfully restarting the man’s heart before taking him to a nearby hospital, where he later died.

“Following an incident which took place on Friday 9 March at our Birmingham cinema, we can confirm that a customer was taken to hospital that evening,” a spokesperson for Vue told The Independent in a statement regarding the accident. 

“We are saddened to learn that he passed away on Friday 16 March," the spokesperson added.

The Birmingham City Council is currently conducting a health and safety investigation into the incident.

Via: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/customer-seriously-hurt-freak-accident-14417100

Famed Snake Whisperer Killed By Snake Bite

A famed ‘snake whisperer’ in Malaysia has died after he was bitten by a cobra, according to media reports.

Free Malaysia Today reports that Abu Zarin Hussin, a firefighter whose snake-catching skills have gone viral, received the fatal cobra bite three days ago. The 33-year-old died early on Friday, it said.

The New York Post reports that firefighters in Malaysia are often called to deal with snakes in homes and businesses.

Abu Zarin led a fire department King Cobra Squad, where he trained other firefighters to catch the deadly serpents, according to Free Malaysia Today.

A 10-year firefighting veteran, he showcased his snake-handling skills on “Asia’s Got Talent” last year. His exploits are also widely documented on social media.

The Straits Times reports that Abu Zarin was attached to Temerloh fire station in the Malaysian state of Pahang. The firefighter has previously had close calls with snakes — he was reportedly in a coma for two days following a cobra bite in 2015.

According to the Post, in 2016 Abu Zarin was misidentified in the Thai media and some U.K. tabloids as a Thai man who allegedly married his pet snake, believing it to be the reincarnation of his girlfriend.

Last year Dan Brandon, a snake lover in the U.K., was found suffocated to death near his pet python, “Tiny.” A coroner later said there was “no doubt” that the python had killed Brandon.

Via:http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/03/16/snake-catching-fireman-dies-after-bitten-by-cobra/

Woman Impaled By Windblown Beach Umbrella

Strong winds can turn the most innocent objects — like branches and car dealership signs — into lethal weapons. Now, we can add beach umbrellas to the list.

A 55-year-old woman died after a windblown beach umbrella hit her in the chest with about 800 pounds of force, according to new research. The freak accident happened so quickly that the woman’s companion didn’t even see the umbrella hit her. (A bystander, however, did.) The companion “noted only that the woman was gasping for breath and was unable to speak,” according to the paper published last week in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. The victim was taken to the hospital but died within an hour.

Though this marks the first recorded death by an airborne beach umbrella, bizarre deaths happen more often than one might assume, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps tabs. Between 1999 and 2016, for instance, over 1,000 peopled died because of “contact with powered lawnmowers,” according to the CDC. People have been injured by rain umbrellas, and one man lost his eye after a windblown beach umbrella hit him in the face.

BIZARRE DEATHS HAPPEN MORE OFTEN THAN ONE MIGHT ASSUME
The study doesn’t say where and when the deadly incident took place. An autopsy of the victim’s body revealed that the umbrella tip stabbed her in the chest, cutting through muscles and cracking ribs. The umbrella was never found, so the researchers used a similar 11-pound beach umbrella to calculate just how fiercely the woman was struck, based on wind speeds from the day of the incident. Their calculations show that with winds blowing at 22 miles per hour, the umbrella delivered about 800 pounds of force to her chest. Wind gusts that day reached 28 mph, so it’s possible that she was hit with up to 1,000 pounds of force. The pressure with which the tip of the umbrella impaled the woman was about 16,000 pounds per square inch, the study says.

The umbrella injured the left ventricle of the woman’s heart, and despite an emergency surgery, she died. “If this incident had gone unwitnessed, and the nature of the object was not recognized, the manner of this woman’s death may have been in question,” the authors write. “This case provides confirmation that beach umbrellas may cause fatal penetrating blunt force trauma to the chest.”

Via: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/5/17080536/beach-umbrella-death-fatal-chest-injury-case-report

Poacher Mauled By Lions

A suspected poacher has been mauled to death by lions in South Africa. Local police said little was left of the man’s body—except his head—after the attack close to the Kruger National Park, in a private game park. 

“It seems the victim was poaching in the game park when he was attacked and killed by lions. They ate his body, nearly all of it, and just left his head and some remains,” a Limpopo police spokesman told AFP. 

The police added that a loaded hunting rifle was found near the body when it was discovered on Saturday morning. Police are still trying to identify the victim.

Via: https://www.thedailybeast.com/suspected-poacher-mauled-to-death-by-a-pack-of-lions

Man falls 500 feet to his death trying to rescue dog

A heartbreaking recovery unfolded at Thornton State Beach
Monday after a 67-year-old man fell down a 500-foot cliff while he was trying to rescue his dog. CBS San Francisco reports the Golden Gate National Park ranger said the man's dog got away from him, and when he tried to go after it he slipped to his death.

Long after the fatal fall, the man's dog continued pacing and barking on a perch, as is if to sense something was wrong.

"The dog knows if you are hurt and sometimes with the cliff they get overstimulated and don't know all the facts," says dog walker Kyle Moreno.

This is a popular area for dog walkers. Tedd Leblanc of Daly City and his friends were out hiking Monday. He says the terrain is steep.

"Sometimes things can move around. You gotta be careful. Always be on alert because rocks can tumble"

Rescuers airlifted the man's body from the bottom of the cliff.

Later they helped the dog get back up the steep cliff and gave it to the victim's family.

Park rangers say there are no leash laws in place, but advise dogwalkers to put their animals on a leash or make sure they respond to voice control.

The area is home to beautiful scenic trails but it is very steep.

Via:  wdef.com/2018/02/20/man-falls-500-feet-death-rescuing-dog-seaside-cliff/

Couple sells all possessions for sailboat, sinks 2 days into trip

A couple’s plan for a better life has been sunk.

Nikki Walsh, 24, and boyfriend Tanner Broadwell, 26, decided nearly a year ago that they were tired of working.

“How can we live our lives when we’re working most of the day and you have to pay so much just to live?” Walsh, who booked time-share tours for a living, said to The New York Post.

“Most of the work you do goes to your home. There has to be another option,” she added.

So the Colorado couple sold all their furniture and their SUV and purchased a 49-year-old boat in Alabama to live on and eventually sail the world in.

The couple moved onto the 28-foot boat, which was in the marina of Tarpon Springs, a town on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and lived there for months with their two-year-old pug, Remy, while they stocked up on food and supplies.

“We were pretty prepared,” Walsh said, of gathering items to last them for their planned trip to the Caribbean.

However, the two were not prepared for what happened next.

Nearly two days into their venture, the couple’s boat capsized in a channel of water called John’s Pass.

“We thought the channel was where we were going, but it wasn’t,” Walsh told the Post, telling the publication they were armed with GPS and paper navigation charts.

Local boat captains say the sandbars often shift in John’s Pass, the Post reported.

“We started freaking out because waves were coming, and it was tossing our boat back and forth,” Walsh recalled.

Broadwell was at the rear of the boat, holding onto Remy when the trouble hit.

“My hands were shaking. We were terrified,” she said.

Before abandoning ship, Walsh said they grabbed some clothes and important documents, as well as things for their dog.

“I also grabbed Remy’s food and just about everything he needed,” said Walsh. “He doesn’t deserve to go without his favorite toys.”

Walsh admitted she and her boyfriend, who used to drive for Uber, were “new to sailing.”

However, the couple, who has been left with just $90 in cash, no jobs and no boat insurance, say they are still hopeful for their world-sailing plans and have started a GoFundMe begging people to help them “not give up on [their] dreams.”

The pair are seeking $10,000 to rescue the ship, which sunk off the coast of Madeira Beach, FL. Walsh said raising the boat alone will cost at least $6,700.

“We have a lot of family helping us, but it’s hard when you’ve lost everything,” Walsh told The Post from Jacksonville, where the couple is staying with loved ones.

Though the pair seem down and out, they still plan to “buy or salvage another boat” at some point and “try try try again,” Walsh writes on the GoFundMe.

“You only have one life. Why spend it doing what you don’t love. Money isn’t everything!” Walsh told the Post.

Via: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/02/11/couple-sells-all-possessions-for-sailboat-sinks-2-days-into-trip.html

Man Dies Weeks After Winning $1 Million Lottery

A New York man who hit the jackpot with a $1 million dollar scratch-off ticket three weeks ago died suddenly Friday, succumbing to stage four cancer, according to multiple reports.

Donald Savastano, 51, passed away from an unspecified form of cancer. He had recently been diagnosed.

Savastano was a self-employed carpenter who spent $10 on a whim for the Merry-Millionaire scratch-off ticket, WBNG reported.

The Queens native told WBNG at the time he planned on using the $661,800 lump sum payment to “buy a new truck, pay off some debt, and invest for the future.”

An obituary published Sunday by Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home in Oneonta said Savastano is survived by his mother, two sisters and four brothers. He died in his home, surrounded by family.

Via: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/29/man-51-dies-weeks-after-winning-1-million-lottery-jackpot.html