Bad Timing or Thinning the Herd - You Choose! Quiz

Answer: killed when a large moving bale of hay hit the vehicle he was driving

While driving on a rural road between the villages of Harbertonford and Halwell in Devon, England, Edwards' van was struck by a cylindrical bale of hay that was rolling down a hill.

The 1,300 pound hay bale collided with the van, causing the musician's immediate death.

Answer: choked on anthropid body parts after winning a cockroach eating contest

Edward Archbold died on October 10, 2012, after consuming dozens of live cockroaches and worms to win a contest conducted by Ben Siegel Reptile Store, in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Archbold beat 30 other contestants to win the grand prize of a live python.

Shortly after winning the contest, Archbold collapsed on the sidewalk in front of the store, and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The office of the Broward County Medical Examiner ruled the death an accident, the result of "asphyxia due to choking and aspiration of gastric content".

Answer: win a video console in a radio station contest

Jennifer Strange, a 28 year old mother of three, was found dead in her Rancho Cordova home, a victim of water intoxication.

Jennifer was one of several contestants attempting to win a "Nintendo Wii" video game console in radio station KDND 107.9 "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest.

During the contest, radio disc jockeys ignored a phone call from a medical professional who was listening, warning them that such a contest could have extremely harmful effects on the participants.

The contest winner, Lucy Davidson, collected her prize despite being severely sickened by the ordeal.

A legal action later filed by the family of Jennifer Strange against the radio station resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement for wrongful death.

The FCC also investigated the incident to determine whether the radio station had violated the terms of its operating license.

Answer: self inflicted gunshot wound to the head while posing for a 'selfie'.

Oscar Otero Aguilar, a 21 year old veterinarian, died after accidently shooting himself in the forehead, while snapping his photograph to post on his social media page.

Aguilar had been drinking with two friends before he decided to use a borrowed gun to pose for a dramatic "selfie" to post on his Facebook page. Aguilar was unaware that the .45 caliber weapon was loaded.

Police were called immediately following the incident and were able to briefly speak with the mortally wounded victim.

Aguilar died in the ambulance as it raced to the hospital.

The shooting was ruled an accident by investigating police officials.

Answer: bitten by the discarded decapitated head of snake whose body was being used to prepare the soup

Chef Peng Fan was in the process of preparing a gourmet soup in a restaurant in Foshan, Guandong province, southern China, when the incident occurred.

The soup, considered a rare delicacy, contained the flesh of the Indochiniese Spitting Cobra snake. The snake used had been decapitated 20 minutes earlier, with the snake head being set aside and the body of the snake being placed in the soup.

As with all reptiles, their body parts can remain functional up to an hour after being severed and separated. In this instance, Fan was bitten on the hand by the snake head 20 minutes after it was separated from the body.
Chef Peng Fan was injected with the flesh killing neurotoxic venom, which caused immediate paralyses of his respiratory system.

Fan died before medical assistance could arrive.

Answer: cat

Diana Dick, a 60 year old retired Oxford University teacher, bled to death after being scratched on her leg by her pet Persian cat, Frangipani, while alone in her Botley, Oxford home.

The large volume of blood released when a varicose vein is opened (in this case by a scratch) may prevent normal blood clotting.

Attempts by her inexperienced 18-year-old caregiver, and later by paramedics, were unsuccessful in saving the life of the former language teacher.

Answer: drove his two-wheeled Segway PT off a cliff into a river.

The body of British entrepreneur James William "Jimi" Heselden was found, along with his Segway Personal Transportation two-wheeled vehicle, in the River Wharfe, between the villages of Thorp Arch and Boston Spa in West Yorkshire.

Heselden died of blunt force trauma to his chest and spine, injuries consistent with falling from the 80 foot cliff above the river.

An eyewitness to the accident who was walking his dog on the narrow footpath above the river, stated that Heselden was driving his vehicle on the path when he lost control of the vehicle and went over the edge of the cliff.

The death was ruled an accident by the coroner.

Jimi Heselden purchased Segway Inc. on December 24, 2009, and died on September 26, 2010, the unfortunate victim of a product manufactured by his newly acquired company.

Answer: a 3,000 pound cow

Joao Maria de Souza died in the waiting room of a local hospital, of massive internal injuries and bleeding after a 3,000 pound cow fell through the roof of his house and onto the bed in which he and his wife were sleeping.

The cow, which had escaped from a nearby farm, was wandering down a road. The home where de Souza lived was built next to a steep hill, next to the road. The cow apparently wandered off the road and onto the roof of the house. The cow fell through the roof which was unable to support the weight of the bovine. The animal landed on de Souza, barely missing his wife, Leni, who slept next to him.
Both the cow and Leni escaped the ordeal uninjured.

The only visible injury to the 45-year-old man was a fractured leg, which may have misled the hospital staff as to the severity on his injuries. De Souza died while waiting to be seen by a doctor.

Answer: decapitated himself with a chainsaw

Davld Phyall protested against being forced to move from his home.

In his carefully planned suicide, Phyall positioned and tied a chainsaw to the leg of a table in his home. He then laid down with his neck against the saw after setting a timer for 15 minutes before it was to start.
There was evidence that Phyll took a last drink of alcohol before the saw started. His plan worked exactly as planned.

The entire block of houses where Phyall lived was scheduled to be demolished. All of Phyall's neighbors had moved out, leaving him as the sole hold-out.

Phyall reportedly rejected 11 different offers for alternative accommodations, but strongly felt that it was unfair that he was being forced to move.

An autopsy found only a small amount of alcohol in his system at the time of
his suicide, and no traces of drugs.
Family members revealed that Phyll had a past history of "mental problems" and had, on at least one other occasion, attempted suicide.

Answer: attacked by coyotes

Taylor Mitchell's death on October 29, 2009, marked the first recorded incident of an adult human being fatally mauled by coyotes.

Prior to the attack on Mitchell, other park visitors reported seeing two Eastern coyotes walking on the same trail. They noted that the coyotes appeared to have no fear of their presence, appearing to be almost domesticated.
Speculation was that Mitchell encountered the same coyotes farther down the trail, and was attacked.

Other park visitors, responding to screams for help, found Mitchell's bloody soaked body on the ground, with a coyote standing over her. Mitchell suffered numerous bites on her body, especially on her legs and head.

The coyote standing over the body showed no fear of the humans trying to shoo it away. The coyote finally walked away after their third attempt to force the coyote away.

Mitchell was taken to a hospital in Cheticamp, Nova Scotia in a critical condition and later airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she died from extreme blood loss.