1) very good friend, phenomenal person died when a drunk bus driver struck the SUV she was driving in. I was supposed to be with her but I couldn't take the time off work and I did think the risk of a car accident was high given where they were driving.

2) My SIL's step Father rode his bike like he has for years. Went over the handle bars, landed on his head (helmet on) and died on the side of the road. Took a while for someone to find him.

3) My Mom's BIL was a pilot and disappeared in his plane. Took 2 years to find his body.

4) My Uncle died in an accident during the Vietnam War. A fuel truck came on the runway as they were landing, one engine wasn't working so when they banked it went into a spin and crashed into the tanker. The whole strip burst into flames, down electrical. Only a few people survived. From what we understand the G force killed my Uncle instantly.

5) My husband knows a bunch of people that died in 911. Blue collar town outside of NYC so lots of first responders.

6) A few people from high school overdosed

7) One acquaintance from high school died of anaphylaxis right before graduation and there was some obvious neglect by the EMTs that responded.

8) Husband's friend's death was technically classified as an accident (therefore major insurance payout). He was in the process of serving his wife with divorce for cheating on him for years. He got in some sort of altercation with his neighbor's son (longer history there) neighbors shot him with a shotgun before killing himself. His cheating wife got a major, major pay day. Like $12 million. Disgusting.

I never realized how much diversity there is in the ways to accidentally die.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on, DCUM, fuel my existential anxiety on this fine Friday.

Rip current, took a star football player on afternoon and he drowned. The whole school was a wreck.

This made me remember my first few days freshman year at university of Richmond in 1998. Tradition had it boys would swim the lake. A freshman football player drowned- was kicked in the head in the commotion. Tragic. He was an only child, first child in his family to go to college. It’s no longer something the school does.

When we were in high school, a classmates mother fell down the stairs one morning before school and hit her head and died.

A family friend slipped on a wet dock as he went to jump in after celebrating after high school graduation - same thing, hit his head and died (possibly drowned? Don't remember)

My maternal grandfather died while my mom was a kid, he was out boating and they had an issue with the boat and had to swim to shore, he took off his life jacket because it was cumbersome to swim in and drowned. Alcohol and bad decisions make this less of a freak accident.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cousin bought life size, very realistic bear suit, not a costume. This was an expensive, very well made suit with distributed padding and molded head that she really enjoyed wearing and going for walks in woods and mountainous areas. After a bad break up, plus being upset about increasing liberalism, she started spending more and more time outdoors, at least during the warm weather months, including overnight. It was "her time," she said. She ended up being killed, savagely. Authorities believed it may have been another bear, but a ranger told us he believed it was a mountain lion. What a lady she was. God bless.

What? I mean… what? What did I just read?

Not sure what's not clear pilgrim. She enjoyed spending a lot of time in remote nature, wearing a customized (very lifelike) bear suit. To each her own.
Now, we believed the overnight stays were asking for trouble, but she was very patriotic, so there was no changing her mind. But what a lady.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who was impaled with a rogue flying beach umbrella on a family vacation.

This is such a fear of mine.

Those beach umbrellas with pointy ends should not be allowed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on, DCUM, fuel my existential anxiety on this fine Friday.

Rip current, took a star football player on afternoon and he drowned. The whole school was a wreck.

I know 2 people who drowned because of the rip current at Ocean City. One is currently in a vegetative state and one is back to normal but spent 2 weeks in the hospital. They were two separate incidents.

If they are still alive, they didn’t drown. I’m confused by this post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tree fell on my Dad’s friend’s car while driving

This is one of my biggest fears!

It happened to a mom in NW DC a few years ago. She was driving her kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cousin bought life size, very realistic bear suit, not a costume. This was an expensive, very well made suit with distributed padding and molded head that she really enjoyed wearing and going for walks in woods and mountainous areas. After a bad break up, plus being upset about increasing liberalism, she started spending more and more time outdoors, at least during the warm weather months, including overnight. It was "her time," she said. She ended up being killed, savagely. Authorities believed it may have been another bear, but a ranger told us he believed it was a mountain lion. What a lady she was. God bless.

What? I mean… what? What did I just read?

Spoiler to Cocaine Bear??

Anonymous wrote:Cousin bought life size, very realistic bear suit, not a costume. This was an expensive, very well made suit with distributed padding and molded head that she really enjoyed wearing and going for walks in woods and mountainous areas. After a bad break up, plus being upset about increasing liberalism, she started spending more and more time outdoors, at least during the warm weather months, including overnight. It was "her time," she said. She ended up being killed, savagely. Authorities believed it may have been another bear, but a ranger told us he believed it was a mountain lion. What a lady she was. God bless.

What? I mean… what? What did I just read?

High school friend and her mother swept away in 2004 tsunami.

College classmates died just after graduation in small plane crash in Alaska

Friend of parent had deathly nut allergy. Was at restaurant and assured no nuts. But…,Salad had been tossed in bowl with residue of walnut oil. By the time spouse rushed back from car with Epipen (which they had left in car) she was dead.

Boy this is a depressing thread…

Anonymous wrote:I had an uncle who lived to be 106 just to be taken out but some ice on his front stairs.

that seems like a good ending!

My great uncle, whom I never knew, apparently died when he was repainting his basement and didn't have proper ventilation. This was in the 1970s.

Cousin bought life size, very realistic bear suit, not a costume. This was an expensive, very well made suit with distributed padding and molded head that she really enjoyed wearing and going for walks in woods and mountainous areas. After a bad break up, plus being upset about increasing liberalism, she started spending more and more time outdoors, at least during the warm weather months, including overnight. It was "her time," she said. She ended up being killed, savagely. Authorities believed it may have been another bear, but a ranger told us he believed it was a mountain lion. What a lady she was. God bless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pipe came off back of truck on interstate at high speed, came directly through the windshield of my friend’s mom’s car. She was in the passenger seat and dad was driving. Pipe went cleanly through her skull.

Was this on the Long Island Expressway? I remember that accident. It was someone slightly famous, but I can't remember.

It was the director Alan Pakula who died that way on the LEI - a pipe came off a vehicle, bounced off the roadway and in through his front windshield impaling him.

Anonymous wrote:Pipe came off back of truck on interstate at high speed, came directly through the windshield of my friend’s mom’s car. She was in the passenger seat and dad was driving. Pipe went cleanly through her skull.

Was this on the Long Island Expressway? I remember that accident. It was someone slightly famous, but I can't remember.