Ironic deaths: Paul Walker, Steve Irwin and more

US actor Paul Walker passed away on Saturday in a car crash in California. Ironically, Walker was a fantastic driver and showcased his talents in The Fast And The Furious film franchise, where he plays undercover police officer Brian O'Conner who infiltrates a gang of illegal street racers.

 

There have been other instances throughout history of people dying from the very things they were famous for, or that they loved doing.

 

Steve Irwin, 2006: The name needs no introduction. Australian wildlife expert and conservationist Steve Irwin, known worldwide as The Crocodile Hunter, was famous for wrestling crocodiles. His wildlife documentary television series of the same name demonstrated his love for animals, especially of the dangerous kind, and his unusual methods in handling them. He died after he was pierced in the chest by the barb of a stingray while snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef. 

 

Hans Steininger, 1567: Hans Steininger lived in Austria in the mid 1500s and was famous for having the world’s longest beard at the time: it was 4.5 feet (1.4m) long and usually kept rolled up in a leather pouch. In 1567 however, there was a fire in his town. It is said that in his haste to exit his house, Steininger stepped on his own beard, tripped, fell and broke his neck.

 

Marcus Licinius Crassus, 53BC: Marcus Crassus was a Roman general famous for amassing such a great fortune that he is considered the wealthiest man in Roman history. He rose to political prominence after ending the slave revolt led by the gladiator Spartacus. His thirst for wealth met an gruesome end in 53 BC at the hands of the Parthians, whose kingdom he had attacked in his quest for riches and military glory. It is said that they killed him by pouring molten gold into his mouth.

 

Bobby Leach, 1926: Leach, an Englishman, was the first man, and the second person, to successfully go over the Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive (the first was a woman named Annie Taylor). He was a daredevil and had ample experience in stunting; he had been a performer with the Barnum and Bailey Circus prior to his exploits over the Niagara. He survived multiple fractures and various contusions until he slipped on a banana peel and broke his leg in 1926. He died a couple of months later due to complications from his injury.

 

Clement Vallandigham, 1871: Vallandingham, a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln, was a prominent Ohio lawyer and politician, and an opponent of the American Civil War. In 1871, while representing a defendant in a murder case in court, he reenacted how the victim had in fact accidentally shot himself. During his demonstration, the pistol he believed to be unloaded accidentally discharged into his stomach, fatally wounding him. He died the next day despite efforts by doctors to save him.

 

Zishe Breitbart, 1925: Polish-born Zishe was a circus performer and a strongman, known once as the "Strongest Man in the World". People would flock to his performances to watch him bend iron bars, break iron chains and horseshoes, and lift baby elephants. In 1925, during a performance, he accidentally injured himself when a rusty iron implement pierced his knee. This resulted in blood poisoning, and despite amputations of both his legs, the infection was too severe. He died in October of that year.

 

Basil Brown, 1974: Brown, an English health food advocate, died after he overdosed on carrot juice. He consumed 10 gallons (over 37 litres) of carrot juice in 10 days - 10,000 times the recommended daily amount of Vitamin A for that period - which resulted in severe liver damage and his death in 1974.

 

Pietro Aretino, 1556: Aretino, an Italian author, poet, playwright and satirist, laughed himself to death. He is said to have found a bawdy joke so funny and laughed so much, that he suffocated and died.

 

David Grundman, 1982: Not many people claim to being killed by a cactus. But this is exactly what happened to Grundman in Arizona in 1982. While out with his roommate, he decided to take on a cactus with his gun in what is called cactus plugging. This practise of vandalising and destroying a cactus (usually a saguaro cactus) for fun, is actually illegal. When he fired several shots into a tall cactus, a four foot limb of the plant broke off and fell directly on him, crushing him to death.

 

Arrhichion, 564BC: Arrhichion lived in Greece and was a champion pankratiast of the ancient Olympic Games. Pankration is a combat sport that combines boxing and wrestling. In his final, fatal match in 564BC, Arrhichion and his opponent were locked in a complicated chokehold. Arrhichion's efforts to free himself caused his opponent to signal his defeat and break Arrhichion's neck at the same time. Since his opponent had already conceded defeat, Arrhichion's body was declared the winner. even in death, he defended his title.