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Losing a loved one is never easy. Regardless of whether it’s expected or sudden, the pain of grief can be extremely intense. But it can be a bit easier to accept that someone is gone when they had the opportunity to live a long, happy, and healthy life. And it can be extra devastating when a person’s life is suddenly cut short.
Netizens have recently been recalling the most tragic ways that they’ve ever seen a friend or family member lose their life, so we’ve compiled a list of their stories below. From freak accidents to cruel illnesses, you might need a box of tissues to get through these heartbreaking stories, pandas.
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#1
My therapist. She was such a lovely woman, she would (when appropriate) talk about her kids with such warmth and care. I went to see her for my anxiety disorder, deriving from a rough childhood. I talked about my dad being an unstable, borderline dangerous individual. She teared up hearing me talk about it, I thought it was sympathy, it wasn't; it was empathy.
I walked by a newspaper one day to see her face on the cover. She was m******d by her ex husband in her own home. He beat her to d***h and then tried to make it look like a s*****e. The alarm was raised when she didn't pick her kids up from school. It was a small town and she left behind three young children, the ex husband/m******r being their father. Phillip Island hasn't quite been the same since.
R.I.P Samatha Fraser.
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#2
There is nothing worse than watching a bright and vibrant person succumb to dementia.
Ellie Sakurai 1 hour ago
Yes, my grandma, an incredibly strong woman, raised four children on her own and worked hard planting and harvesting potatoes. She would sit with her grandchildren and tell us the most incredible Indigenous stories, about her community. Now she doesn't even know her own name 😢
#3
My uncle drowned in a scuba diving accident trying to save someone who panicked.
My dad’s cousin was found in a swamp chained down by cement blocks. Motive was ultimately undetermined, but they suspect it was a business deal gone wrong.
Every day on Earth is a blessing, and most of us will hopefully get to stick around for many decades. But something that makes life much more difficult is knowing that it’s so precious. It can be taken from us at any moment, and what’s even scarier than losing your own life is watching a loved one lose theirs.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the most common reason for someone to unexpectedly lose their life is by having a sudden cardiac arrest, typically caused by cardiovascular disease. Every year in the United States, over 356,000 people have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital. And sadly, only 10% of them survive, even if they receive paramedic treatment.
#5
Couple had three children. The eldest literally dropped d**d at school one day, aged 9, due to a rare cardiac condition. The younger two were tested. They got two years with the middle child before he died too. The youngest daughter didn't have the condition! She lived a happy, healthy life....until she was 16, when she was hit by a drunk driver who fled the scene, and left her for d**d.
ETA: the mother had several s*****e attempts in the two years after the youngest's d***h. They then moved to a different city to be close to her sisters, and their children. Last I heard, their plan was to dedicate their lives to being the best Aunt and Uncle possible, and do for their nieces and nephews what they wanted to do for their own children.
#6
You know when you're a kid and your parents tell you you can't jump straight into the pool because the temperature shock is bad for you, but you do it anyway cause you know it's b******t?
yeah, turns out if you're 82 the temperature shock will straight up k**l you. rip grandpa
edit: i didn't realize so many people didn't know about temperature shock, glad i'm spreading the knowledge. in a similar vein, another man i knew (around age 75) chugged an ice cold beer after a hike on a really hot day, turned to his wife, said "i f****d up" and dropped d**d. so also don't do that.
Someone doesn’t have to lose their life in minutes for it to be tragic, though. As several on this list mentioned, illnesses that destroy a person over time, such as dementia, are devastating to watch day by day. And seeing a loved one receive a terminal diagnosis, such as brain cancer, can turn your world upside down in an instant.
Nikki Smith, author of Grief Sucks: A Workbook for Navigating Loss, says that when loss is sudden, the most important thing that grieving individuals need is presence. Someone who’s there to help and be with them without trying to rationalize or fix the situation. On the other hand, when the loss was not shocking, what caregivers really need is validation. Someone being there to listen without judgment can go a long way.
#7
My healthy paramedic sister spent her days saving people's lives. She had a headache that wouldnt go, so went for a scan.
The next day she was told she had brain cancer. No effective treatment, no cure, 100% fatal.
Within six months she was in a wheelchair, massively bloated with steroids and practically blind.
She died almost 12 months to the day of her scan.
#8
A guy I went to school with was backpacking in Australia. He and his friends had a BBQ on the beach somewhere in the North of the country, after the BBQ he fell asleep on the beach and his friends thought it would be "funny" to leave him on the beach and all went back to the hostel.
When they got back to the hostel they found out that saltwater crocs were in that area, so they rushed back to get him and couldn't find him anywhere. Police came etc, full search and rescue and eventually it was established he was eaten by crocodiles.
I cannot imagine just how scary that must have been for him to wake up to being attacked by the croc(s). We weren't close but he was a good laugh and no one deserves to d*e in that way.
#9
I just found out last week that someone I used to hang out with in HS a lot was hit by a drunk driver in the town I used to live in. He was so sweet. I literally thought of him randomly and was like "oh I'll see what he's up to!" and found his obituary with his photo and everything.
We know that this is far from the easiest article to read through, pandas. So we hope that it’s not too painful. But if you can relate to any of these stories, know that you’re not alone. Keep upvoting the ones that touch you, and let us know if you’d like to share any similar experiences in the comments below. Then, if you’re interested in reading another article from Bored Panda discussing similar themes, we recommend checking out this one next.
#10
My uncle was a truck driver. While transferring a load of glass, it shifted and he hopped out to check. During that check, the glass slid off the trailer & landed on him. He bled out before the ambulance got there.
#11
I've never told this story and it will not be fun to read or easy to forget. It is NSFL.
A family member of mine probably wins the unfortunate prize of having the most tragic loss.
She had married her high school sweetheart, both became successful and had their dream home built. They started a beautiful family and were a picturesque, fantastic couple and parents. They were *constantly* positive and happy. These were extremely bubbly, energetic, outgoing people who were in love with their new life.
One day, the dad was in the backyard on the ride-on mower taking care of their huge yard with lots of trees. Their 2 year old boy saw dad in the backyard, zooming around, and he ran out the sliding glass door to go and see him. He was running up from behind and, because the mower is so loud, his dad never heard or saw him. He had to reverse out of a spot and.... he reversed right over his own son. Lawnmower over child. I won't go into any more details.
It was so bad that the first responders who showed up were at the funeral, faces wet from tears. The wails of pure anguish I heard from the mother that day will live inside of me forever. My eyes are welling up just thinking about the utter misery of it all. Even the priest was crying over the too-tiny coffin. It was the single saddest situation I have been on the periphery of, and I cannot possibly begin to imagine experiencing it first hand. It was so tragic that their home town still honors the child during a parade they have every year.
On a positive note, the couple healed. They remained loving each other, and they had another child - a beautiful and healthy daughter whom they love dearly. The pain has never faded, and they remember their son all year long, but they have learned, somehow, how to heal and continue to live.
If we have souls, I have no idea how one heals from something like that. I think about it more than I'd like to.
#12
I watched my stepdad deteriorate from early-onset Alzheimers at the age of 59. He died January of this year at 63. I was his full-time caretaker.
It was harder than watching my brother go through chemo.
#13
I don’t know if this counts because he wasn’t actually born yet, but my son died unexpectedly, at full term, on what was supposed to be his delivery day. We went to the hospital to have him and bam, no heartbeat. I delivered a d**d baby, and the autopsy showed nothing wrong. Our perfectly healthy baby just f*****g died for no known reason, and it haunts me. Oh, and it was my husband’s birthday.
#14
I have a pretty messed up one. My dad had brain cancer, which really s***s on its own. By the end he had become mute and unable to walk, confused a lot. They had him on experimental d***s for the tumors and Im very grateful for them because he was given six months at diagnosis and we got two years. However, the last one he was on has some really nasty side effects. He had what I consider to be the worst thing that could happen to a man. The d***s caused him to get gangrene in his genitals. Unfortunately it was the last thing his body could handle and it’s what lead to his last hospital visit. He was a really great man. So compassionate and funny and always had people swarming around him to hear one of his jokes or just be in his light. It was devastating to see him go like that. I remember sitting in the hall of his room, waiting for the rest of our family. He was asleep and I was just bawling because I knew it was the end. Nurse came to tell me everything woukd be okay and I told her no it wouldn’t. She didn’t argue, didn’t comfort me. Just patted me on the back and let me cry because she knew she couldn’t convince me otherwise. It’s devastating when someone so big and kind in life gets such a excruciating and demeaning exit. He absolutely deserved better. .
whodunnitfan2013 27 minutes ago
My father just died on Sunday after almost a decade of medical emergencies. He was taken away via ambulance for this last time in February or March, and was going back and forth between hospitals and rehab centers for months before multi-organ failure finally took him.
#15
Someone I know broke his ankle and went to the hospital and died of covid that he caught there after they subsequently broke his wrist trying to move him without enough help (that he warned them about).
#16
Her fiance’s uncle drunkenly crashed his boat into a buoy over the 4th of july weekend. She was ejected and drowned. She was supposed to get married a month later and was buried in her wedding dress. She was an insanely kind, popular, intelligent, and beautiful girl.
#17
When I was in 6th grade, there was a younger boy who set next to me on the bus. One day in spring he didn't show up. Turns out his family went ice fishing, ice broke he went in the river and was swept downriver under the ice.
Family friends son went hunting at 19, got mad at his Dad and stormed off into the Alaskan wilderness, never found after extension searching with people and dogs.
#18
I knew girl who was a little older than me- she was my neighbor and a very nice girl. We used to ride bikes together with the other neighborhood kids.
When she was a child, her parent accidentally ran over her arm with a lawnmower. She survived this, however her arm was deformed and could not grow muscle correctly, her arm was the size of the child she was when the accident happened and had visible scar tissue. She was also very beautiful.
She was teased relentlessly by her peers and she suffered debilitating depression. Her parents were very religious and instead of taking her for legitimate treatment, she spoke only to her pastor.
She had a pool party at her home and gave some of her few friends teddy bears (they were white and holding hearts in their hands) and said, “no matter what, all of my love is in these bears”. She hanged her self that evening and her brother, who was a friend of my brother, found her. We could hear the family and saw the aftermath. It was f*****g tragic and I still have that bear.
#19
Trauma story. When I was 13 I was visiting a friend in British Columbia. Our parents got us dirt bikes, DS 80's, best start to the summer. It was about 10 am, we were going to the lake. take the same trail that we did for the last couple of weeks. We go to cross the highway, you have to go up an incline, I stalled my bike. Jeremy kept going, when I crested over the hill I saw that all the traffic has stopped. Jeremy's bike was 20 30m down the highway and he was laying motionless on the other side. When I got to him he was already d**d. The wierd thing there was hardly any blood.
#20
A girl I went to highschool with went to the beach with her parents and her brother (I think it was in the summer of our second highschool year). She went swimming and got into trouble due to the strong currents. Her dad and mom both went in to help her, but also got into trouble. Then the brother went in, and saved his sister - but both parents sadly drowned.
#21
My mum was crushed by a bus, I was stuck in the passenger seat beside her. I think it was being there and unable to help, and only being a teenager, that makes it so much more tragic.
#23
A friend of mine passed away choking on a piece of steak.
He had excused himself to the bathroom bc he didnt want to look stupid hacking up dinner. Our friend found him 5 mins later d**d.
Sara Frazer 50 minutes ago
I said it before on a different recent post, but a lot of choking victims are found in bathrooms, for this reason. If someone is choking and walks away please go check on them
#25
One of my best friends died in a house fire just a few days after his 39th birthday. He was trying to get his dogs out, he got one out but the other one died with him.
#26
Had a friend in high school that got pinned between his dream car trans am and a tree. He was alive for 3 hours or so alone. All he was doing was checking on the cows. We were sophomores. RIP Jake.
#28
A friend of mine knew a guy who used his foot to push a stuck branch into a wood chipper and it sucked him in. His friend was not able to turn it off. There was literally nothing left of him.
#29
Parkinson’s disease. Watching someone who was once a pillar in the community and a captain of industry just crumble is just difficult to witness.
#30
My grandfather wanted to do something special for his grandkids after our grandma died. He traveled to a town called Rudolph just shy of Christmas to mail us some postcards. He died in a car crash on his way home that night and the postcards arrived in the mail a few days later.
#31
As a new nurse, we had a patient from Egypt visiting his kids. He got pneumonia and was admitted to our hospital. Not knowing his allergy list, we gave him antibiotics that caused a severe reaction. This lead to a very long stay in the ICU where he progressively declined. He was trach’d PEG’d, ventilator dependent, on vasopressors and on sedation. He developed pressure ulcers and multiple infections.
Family decided to withdrawal care because dad wouldn’t want to live like this. His entire US family surrounded his bed the day we withdrew care. Halfway through, he immediately wakes up with eyes so big in shock. This was the first time he’d opened his eyes and responded to any stimulation in a month. Familybstarted screaming as they saw their dad staring at them as he couldn’t breathe. He started pulling at lines and thrashing in the bed. One daughter screamed to the doctor to do something so he gave more morphine until he was too high to care. Family left traumatized. It was the worst withdrawal of care I’ve witnessed to this day.
#32
Skydiving. One of my good friends died. They let her go solo on her second jump ever. Her lines got tangled and she spiraled till she hit the ground. Her body lived for several more hours but she was gone.
#33
My sons body was found in a national forest. No d***s, alcohol, s*******m or foul play. He literally succumbed to the elements. Had schizophrenia. Lost. Confused. Alone. And slow.
#34
A work colleague told me the story of how her brother had died many years previous. Riding a motorbike, he pulled up at the lights, went to put his foot down on the ground, but his shoe lace was snagged around the footpeg, so he just fell over, & was run over by a truck.
#35
Friend’s fiancé got punched in the face at a bar. Instant brain damage, he never woke up and she had to make the difficult decision to switch off life support a couple of days later. He didn’t start a fight, really friendly guy but happened to strike up a conversation with an angry off duty military guy.
Devastating ripple effects for many many people who knew and loved him. Extremely sad.
#38
My one year old baby cousin died from a brain tumor.
When I was in elementary school, a girl a grade or two younger than me died unexpectedly from an asthma attack. We all knew her and she was well liked.
In high school, a girl who was pretty popular (and whom I had know since I started school there in 5th grade) died in an ATV accident on the second to last day of school. Her boyfriend survived.
My grandmother died by s*****e when I was 18.
I’ve had many of the kids I’ve worked with d*e from varying causes. Accidents, s**cides, ODs, m****r.
#39
Had a classmate who was so gifted, only 16 and was about to graduate from high school and with an Associates degree from our local community collage. Snuck out to go to a party after getting over mono and fell asleep driving home. Drove head on into a semi.
Worst part is, she didn't normally do anything like that, so when police knocked on their door at 3 in the morning, her parents were like, no, it can't be her, she's in bed.
#40
I had a friend in high schools whose stepdad got his pants leg caught in a grain bin auger and it pulled him into it. He was alive for a few hours while they tried to rescue him but he died from his injuries. I just can’t imagine being stuck alive and awake knowing your chances were slim.
#41
My friend's sister had a kid, and at 1 year old he was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer.
The doctors said he was likely born with cancer.
This kid spent the next couple years of his life in pain from treatments, and never being able to grow as a normal child. He died never being able to speak or understand what was happening to him. It must have been painful and terrifying.
I nearly punched someone when they said god needed another angel after he died. God didn't need to t*****e a child to make an angel. He didn't need to make this woman's life hell and rip out her heart. There is no god, and if there is, he's a cruel b*****d that doesn't deserve the worship he gets.
#42
A girl I went to school with was on the school golf team and a tree fell on her on while on the golf course.
#43
It’s either hitting their head on a sink or dying from CJ Disease (Human Mad Cow Disease) a week after receiving a diagnosis.
#44
A boy in my son's middle school class died of appendicitis. He didn't have any of the typical symptoms, no abdominal pain and just a little vomiting, but was primarily delirious and acting strange and not making sense (the paramedics' first thought was d**g use, either intentional or some accidental exposure). He was so far along that he died on the way to the hospital. He was so young.
#45
My BIL. My sister was finally happy after a terrible first marriage. He was an amazing dad, they had a two year old together.
He went out for a spin on his Harley and ended up pushed into a ditch. He walked away with no major injuries but sore ribs so they went to the hospital to check that.... And he has a window maker heat attack and died in the hospital. The minor accident dislodged a plaque and that was it. 38 years old and just gone.
#46
I worked with a PA at an entertainment show in NY years ago. He was a sweet goofy guy who was literally the happiest, friendliest person you could ever possibly meet. Honestly he wasn’t great at the job, but the bosses wouldn’t fire him because everyone all loved him too much.
He made a short film called ¡Capicu! about dominoes with his friends from the Bronx - a pre-Chappelle Show Donnell Rawlings was in it. It ended up winning a prize at a small local festival, and then it got accepted into the Havana Film Festival, which was the biggest thing that ever happened to him by far. As a guy who always told us he was going to be a filmmaker, it was his dream come true. People at the show were so happy for him they bought him a suit and new shoes for the trip. I gave him a new Palm Pilot to help with his networking. On the plane down he was handing out business cards and the crew let him screen his film for the whole flight.
His first night in Havana he went out with some strangers he’d just met, and people warned him they seemed sketchy but he trusted everyone. They found him on the street the next morning robbed of everything, even his new shoes, with no memory of what happened. He died in the hospital six days later before the film could be screened at the festival. Nobody ever figured out exactly what happened. He was 33 with a wife and two little kids.
#47
My uncle worked his a*s of for about four decades to really make sure he would have a comfortable retirement, and while he was generous to his family financially, he was always thrifty and seldom splurges for himself.
He's working his last year to qualify for 20 years on his last company, then he got cancer and not only was he unable to qualify for the 20 years, all of his savings went down the drain as well with all the treatments and he didn't even make it.
Like just a year more to the finish line and fate said f**k you, that's why.
#48
Crushed by a downed tree. They were cutting an uprooted tree and it started to roll 1 guy ran one way the other ran the other and the tree rolled on him.
I don’t like sharing tragedy p**n but I feel like this is something people should know about when cutting a downed tree. You think it’s safe because the tree is on the ground but it’s not, especially if it’s propped up on the root.
#49
A family acquaintance's only son died in a freak accident. An electrical pole was being fixed in their area and whoever or whatever is holding it up, suddenly lost grip of it and it fell. Among the kids playing around at that time, he was the only one who didn't manage to get away. This happened in the few days after Christmas and before his 7th or 8th birthday.
Also had a former classmate who got abducted and sh*t in the head at close range just last year. The m****r happened at an abandoned lot in a completely different city and the only witness kept on giving different statements so safe to say that his case will sadly never be solved.
#50
Maybe not for the individual, but for everyone they were with. Actually, two different events that ended pretty similarly.
The first is that there were a set of triplets who I knew through church while growing up. When they were all only 14, their mom decided to lay down on the train tracks.
The second is that 4 of my old friends who I used to party with almost every night were hanging out, driving around, then stopped at a train crossing while the gates were down. Without any real warning, one of them swiftly got out of the car, simply said "seeya later," then stepped in front of the oncoming train.
Another one that might not count cos I didn't actually know the person, but they were a friend of a friend: One of my closest friends told me about a party they went to back when they lived in Virginia, where the hosts family had a really big house, but his fam was out of town. On the first day of the party, the host of the party locked himself in an enclosed living room/study area n sh*t himself. Some people were allegedly alarmed at the sound, but didn't look into it further. My friend claimed that they were there for 3 days with people partying the whole time before leaving. Allegedly no one realized he was actually d**d until the family came back n discovered his body.
#51
He suffered a heart attack after helping his eldery mother stack her firewood for the winter. He wasn't feeling well after so he went to take a nap on his mother's couch, and never woke up. The guilt that poor woman felt...she kept saying over and over that if she hadn't asked him for help, her son would still be alive.
#52
Motorbikes. 3 of them so far.
Sara Frazer 42 minutes ago (edited)
So dangerous. I have one person I knew who passed from a dirt bike accident, and one person I didn't know that left an impression; coming home from Portland early this year the boyfriend and I drove by a deceased man and his motorcycle on the side of I-5 (police were there, he just hadn't been carried away yet). My boyfriend even has a story from his youth of almost going over a cliff on his dirt bike. And there's always so many motorcycle fàtality accidents in the local news...
#54
My uncle was a real estate agent. He was showing a house and fell down a flight of stairs. He died from head trauma.
#55
Not entirely tragic in some crazy way, but I knew a your guy (25yrs) who died from pulmonary embolism at home after injured leg surgery. Crazy how fragile life can get sometimes :(. One day you are chilling home after surgery, playing video games with friends and they you just d*e during night.
#56
A friend of a friend was cutting his grass with his riding mower. His young son who was riding with him fell off… you can imagine the rest. One of the most tragic and f****d up things I could ever imagine. The parents have done an incredible job creating a legacy with playgrounds and parks in the child’s name. I can’t imagine their pain, so to try to build something positive from it is more strength than I can imagine.
#57
There was a guy I knew in Chicago that rode the Metra everyday into work. Sat in the same seat every ride. One day that seat was occupied so he took another for the ride into downtown. A semi truck got into a wreck near the tracks and a big spool of steel came off the trailer, hit a train car and k****d him in a seat he would have normally never been in.
#58
My grandpa’s friend turned his head into a half-eaten cherry pie by diving straight in a boat motor whilst drunk.
What do you think ?
Kristiina Männiste 12 minutes ago (edited)
A lady in her thirties was camping with her husband and children near Pechory in russia when she discovered a tick bite. She thought nothing of it at first but then got sick, so sick, that she had to be airlifted to St Petersburg. As the family actually lived in Estonia she was transferred from St. Petersburg to our local central hospital. The lady comatose by that time already. Tick borne encefalitis. The hospital discarged her to home, but told the husband she could be placed into a nursing facility to recuperate. They didnt tell him she was hopeless. So the lady arrives at our clinic- unconious, but restless and moaning, the husband at her side telling her its all right. over and over again.. Our consulting doc is outraged and tries to get the lady back into intensive care in the hospital. But the patient dies the day before she was to be transferred back to ICU.
Kristiina Männiste 5 minutes ago (edited)
Apparently the central hospital deemed her terminal and sent her home to d*e, but didnt want to sadden the family.... Our doc had to break the news to the husband and children, the husband understood but the children (the eldest was 17, I think) screamed that we m******d their mommy... I always make sure to keep my tick born encefalitis vaccination updated.
Load More Replies... Kristiina Männiste 12 minutes ago (edited)
A lady in her thirties was camping with her husband and children near Pechory in russia when she discovered a tick bite. She thought nothing of it at first but then got sick, so sick, that she had to be airlifted to St Petersburg. As the family actually lived in Estonia she was transferred from St. Petersburg to our local central hospital. The lady comatose by that time already. Tick borne encefalitis. The hospital discarged her to home, but told the husband she could be placed into a nursing facility to recuperate. They didnt tell him she was hopeless. So the lady arrives at our clinic- unconious, but restless and moaning, the husband at her side telling her its all right. over and over again.. Our consulting doc is outraged and tries to get the lady back into intensive care in the hospital. But the patient dies the day before she was to be transferred back to ICU.
Kristiina Männiste 5 minutes ago (edited)
Apparently the central hospital deemed her terminal and sent her home to d*e, but didnt want to sadden the family.... Our doc had to break the news to the husband and children, the husband understood but the children (the eldest was 17, I think) screamed that we m******d their mommy... I always make sure to keep my tick born encefalitis vaccination updated.
Load More Replies...
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