Date: 05-14-2007
Location: Meat Packing District, New Mexico
A man named Billy DeMayo (aka Philly Billy), who works for the a butchery and is putting some slices of meat in a large freezer. As he put the meat away, he hears the freezer door slam shut. Some say that meat lockers like these can be slammed shut to prank any butcher like Philly Billy. But when he was locked inside it was no prank.
Billy's body temperature starts out at 98.6 but once the the door slammed , it started decreasing. Time and temperature were now, his enemies. After 10 minutes, the palms on Billy's hands are down to 60 degrees. Anyone who's ever been out too long in a cold without loves knows one thing: it hurts like hell. Capillaries in the surfaces of the hands constrict. Causing blood to retreat deeper into the torso to keep vital organs functioning. This responds to severe cold is one of our building defense mechanisms. The human body will sacrifice its own toes, fingers, hands and feet to frostbite. In order to ensure survival.
17 minutes in the freezer, and Billy's core temperature has dropped to 97 degrees. This triggers a major reaction. Deep inside his brain, the hypothalamus has detected the temperature drop. And orders the constriction of the entire web of surface capillaries. His warming body blood is now in full retreat. Hypothermia, which means a lack of heat, begins to set in when the body's core temperature deeps below 95 degrees. It continues to fall about one degree every half hour.
Billy's core temperature has fallen below 90 degrees, and his eyesight has begun to fail. Such simple things as the numbers on the watch become gibberish. South Philly Billy has crossed the border into a medical condition called profound hypothermia.
Billy's blood thickens it slows, reducing his ability to burn oxygen. His nerve tissue is getting too cold to transmit electrical impulses. Causing his heart to beat erratically. Right before Billy's heart stops forever, a pang of consciousness breaks through the ice.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to smuggle sides of beef of the backdoor.
And a really bad idea to have gotten a boss's 17-year-old granddaughter pregnant.
There's an old Italian proverb, which says 'Revenge is a dish best served cold.' For South Philly Billy, it was served...sub zero.
Way to Die #293: Freeze Died
When people freeze to death, they are often mistaken as victims of sexual assault. The reason: Right before dying, constricting blood vessels dilate. Producing a sensation of extreme heat, prompting them to strict out. It's a phenomenon called Paradoxical Undressing.
Date: 08-23-2010
Location: Carbo San Lucas
Richard Paxon and his two pals had been exploring the reefs by Cabo San Lucas for the last three days. They decided to squeeze in one last dive before heading home. After an hour at 45 feet, the divers made their way back to the surface, making sure to come up slowly enough to safely release nitrogen gas stored up in their bloodstreams. After spending hours in the decompression chambers in Catalina Island, Richard was eager to get home. So they got in an aircraft. Unfortunately, he forgot one of the cardinal rules of diving: Never dive and fly the same day. As soon as the unpressurized plane climbed out and reached its cruising altitude of 12,000 feet, Richard and his friends began to feel the first symptoms of decompression sickness (commonly known as "the bends"). With Richard at the controls of the plane, but losing control of his mind and body, it was the all-time worst case scenario. The three men, incapacitated by the bends, could only watch in horror as their plane augured straight into a mountainside.
Way to die #713: Dive Bombed
1870, New York City. During construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, workers came down with a mysterious melody known as caissons disease (Other name for decompression sickness). The workers would come back to the surface and double over in severe pain. Leaving many crippled and some dead. They were suffering from a newly diagnosed illness: the bends.
Date: 09-22-2007
Location: Jacmel, Haiti
"This land belongs to me."
"The only thing you own is 12 warrents and gambling debt."
These two brothers are fighting over a land dispute. With a fdw name calling, a push, and a shove, the brother on the ground (James) is infuriated and plans revenge.
He seeks out a witch doctor and asks him to poison a brother turned enemy.
While out for a walk, James is maced with a powder from the witch doctor. Two days later, James is believed to be dead.
At his funeral many are in grief over James's death. However, he is actually paralyzed in a zombie-like state, and he cannot move or talk. James is buried alive.
The night of his burial, two grave robbers dig out his coffin, but when they see his corpse, they flee in shock. Turns out, James came to and tried to claw his way out of his own casket. He died to suffocation, trying to escape, until his fingers were worn down to the bone.
Way to Die #91: De-coffinated
Date: 08-21-2007
Location: Riverside, CA
Dalph Smith was a German Librarian who had a serious fetish...for fish. As a boy he wanted to be with the fish and swim with them.
So at his old age, Dalph took an old waterbed, cut it up, glued it with Latex, and called it the Merman. Driving to the nearest lakeside, Dalph was excited to take the Merman on it's maiden voyage. Dalph put his suit on and headed down to the water. It was slow going and started to overheat.
When body temperature rises, sweat begins to form in these glands. As sweat evaporates, heat is dissipated. If the temperature outside was cool, that could've saved him.
Unfortunately for Dalph, it was a scorcher, 97 degrees. He began feeling the first symptoms of hyperthermia. To reach a point of hyperthermia would take around 3 hours. It was so hot and Dalph exerted so much energy, he got there in less than 15 minutes.
With the lake's edge tantalizing close, Dalph's temperature red-lines at 109 or 108 degrees. Unable to cool himself off, Dalph dies right next to his water sanctuary.
Right before he died, Dalph finally got his wish. He knew exactly what it felt to be a fish... out of water.
Way To Die #606: Wet Dream
What's next? Maybe you. Maybe you will be the next way to die.