"Drowned At A Lifeguard’s Party”: 35 Ironic Ways People Met Their Maker

Losing a life is no light-hearted matter. Yet there are times when we can’t help but wonder if the Grim Reaper has a dark sense of humour. The one certainty in life is that someday we will all say a final goodbye to this Earth. We don’t know when or how it will happen, only that it will. Many of us hope for an easy, quick, and painless passing, but life can have a twisted sense of humour, taking people in the most unexpected ways. Recently, this somewhat morbid theme surfaced online, and Redditors have been sharing stories they’ve heard of people who lost their lives in such ironic circumstances that it almost felt like a cruel joke.

#1

Image source: Agile-Fee-6057, Sanford and Son / Youtube Comedian Redd Foxx had a recurring bit where he would fake a heart attack (famously used on Sanford and Son) While filming another show, he had an actual heart attack and died when people thought it was his bit.

#2

Image source: Ositosan, MIKI Yoshihito / flickr (not the actual photo) Founder and owner of North Face outdoors clothing died of hypothermia.

#3

Any Covid-denier who died of the virus. Image source: TrooperJohn

#4

Image source: big_sugi, DragonImages / envatoelements (not the actual photo) Garry Hoy fell 24 stories to his death, after he threw himself into some safety windows to demonstrate that the glass was unbreakable. As it happens, the glass was indeed unbreakable. The window *frames* however.

#5

Hopefully soon, Putin will fall out a basement window and die. Image source: Wiltbradley

#6

Terrorist Khay Rahnajet mailed a letter b**b without enough postage. When it got returned to sender he opened it and died. Not really ironic, but still funny as hell. Image source: Tsu_Dho_Namh

#7

Derek Kieper, an anti-seat belt activist, was thrown from a car during a crash and k****d. Two others in the car, belted, were unhurt. Image source: anon

#8

Gaddafi. For sure! A few months before his death he threatened to hunt down the protestors street by street, house by house, like rats. And in the end he was found hiding in a sewer drain and was k****d by them. Image source: shinobi500

#9

After years of distrusting and persecuting doctors for political reasons, Stalin died of a stroke and no doctors were around to help him. Image source: blackbelt352

#10

Casper Schmidt. AIDS denials that died of AIDS. Image source: KonaKaiKing

#11

Lou Gehrig. Died of Lou Gehrig's Disease. Poor b*****d. How'd he not see that coming? Image source: alfalfasprouts

#12

Image source: AlfaTangoCharlie, Anonymous for Blank & Stoller N.Y. / Wikipedia Thomas Midgley Jr invented leaded petrol (which lowered the iq of about half of US adults), and then went on to invent CFCs (which helped deplete the ozone). He is estimated to have changed our atmosphere more than any single organism in history. Later in life he contracted polio and built himself an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to hoist himself out of bed. One day he got tangled in this and died of strangulation.

#13

Image source: tipsygypsy98, harrycollinsphotography / envatoelements (not the actual photo) Tim Treadwell, self appointed grizzly expert. Died by grizzly bear attack.

#14

Image source: harazen, fotodestock / envatoelements (not the actual photo) Okay, I know of a YouTube sensation from Mexico, he was known as "El Canaca." So this guy was being filmed by the news as he was pulled over by the cops for drinking and driving. As the reporter asks him "Why is he drinking and driving, when he is putting patrons life at risk." He justifies by saying "That he has not crashed yet." One year later he was ran over by a woman who was drinking and driving.

#15

A guy robbed a world war 2 veterans house and stole a handgun from WW2 which he later used to rob a convenience store and when he attempted to k**l the cashier he heard a click and his immediate response was to look down the barrel, he didn't know the gun was so old it had a hang fire, so he accidentally shot himself in the face and could only be identified by his dental records. Image source: sQuidTwisT

#16

There was a news story a couple of years ago about a guy that died in a motorcycle accident riding in a rally against helmet laws. If he had been wearing a helmet, he likely would have survived. Image source: iowaboy12

#17

Image source: naomihy, riderfoot / envatoelements (not the actual photo) Jerome Moody. He drowned during a party for New Orleans lifeguards. Many of the people in attendance were professional lifeguards, and four guards were on duty. To make matters worse, the party was in celebration of the New Orleans Recreational Department’s first drowning-free swimming season in recorded history.

#18

Jack Daniels died from an infection when he kicked his safe and developed a blister he ignored. Supposedly if he had soaked his foot in his own alcohol he would have survived. Image source: SourPuss6969

#19

Image source: anon, Warner Bros. publicity still for for the film Rebel Without a Cause / Wikipedia James Dean starred in an ad campaign for driving safety, and said "Take it easy driving — the life you might save might be mine." Not long after, he died in a car crash caused by another driver.

#20

Very surprised no one has mentioned **Joseph Stalin** yet! After returning home from an all night movie and drinking binge, Stalin gives his guards strict orders not to disturb him. He doesn't get up at his usual 10am, but his guard are waaaay too afraid of him to go check. 12 hours later, he's discovered by his Deputy Commandant lying on his back, having suffered a stroke. He lay there for the entire day, helpless, alone, and in agony. If doctors had helped him in time, he might have lived long enough to nuke us in the cuban missile crisis. Who knows? TL;DR Stalin's guard are too afraid to disobey him - he dies a horrible, agonizing death because of it. Image source: The_Intrepid_Fool

#21

Image source: 1440III, Florida Department of Corrections/Doug Smith Michael Godwin, 28, an American criminal convicted of m****r, was initially given a death sentence by electrocution before being reduced to life imprisonment. Godwin died from electrocution when he bit into wires while attempting to fix a broken television set, at the same time sitting on a metal toilet in his prison cell at the Central Correctional Institute in South Carolina.

#22

My D.A.R.E officer/teacher Overdosed and died on oxycodone. Image source: eFonzy

#23

Dr. Charles Drewm inventor of the blood bank, and the method of storing platelets instead of whole blood, which required refrigeration, bled to death after a car accident. *There is an untrue rumor that he died because he was refused treatment at a white hospital. This isn't accurate. His injuries were catastrophic, but he was immediately treated at the white hospital he was taken to, but he did not survive. Image source: Sea_Tracker

#24

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, arguably died from his unfortunate decision to eat little more than Apples. As a fruitarian, he would have deprived his body of a number of micronutrients, most notably selenium. One of Selenium deficiency’s leading side effects is cancer of the pancreas. Image source: Thin-Rip-3686

#25

Isadora Duncan, famous for her scarves, had hers catch in the rear wheel of a convertible. Image source: nrepentantFreak

#26

Image source: ki**cote93, Luis Tamayo / flickr (not the actual photo) The millionaire CEO of Segway Jimi Heselden died in 2010 from injuries apparently sustained falling from a cliff while riding his own product.

#27

Image source: andurilmat, Mathew Benjamin Brady / the United States Library of Congress Clement Vallandigham accidentally sh*t and k****d himself in 1871 in an attempt to demonstrate how, a person who had recently been sh*t and k****d had in fact accidentally sh*t them self.

#28

Image source: anon, Library and Archives Canada / Wikipedia Bobby Leach was a stunt performer and was the 2nd person to go over Niagara Falls (height of about 170 feet) and survive. Later in life he slipped and fell less than 5 feet and broke his leg, which got infected and he died.

#29

Guy in my town crash his skidoo into a sign advertising helmet safety. He wasn't wearing a helmet. He was one of the towns firefighters, and as such a first responder. Image source: anon

#30

James Sakara, a pastor from Zambia, thought that he'll be able to ressurect just like Jesus Christ did. He asked to be buried alive, with the intention that he'll come back to life 3 days later. It seems his plan wasn't as airtight as he thought. Image source: Gadongbadabong

#31

I’m not sure about ironic but strangely poetic, and probably the best way this person could have died… Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote a profound book about a pilot who crashes his plane into the desert and makes the acquaintance of a blond little boy from the stars who loved a rose and is forever saddened when the boy returns to his home planet. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a pilot himself, later vanished without a trace while he was flying his plane ~~over the Sahara Desert~~. I choose to believe that the aviator was finally able to see his friend… I think in recent years they actually found the wreckage of his plane, but still; you can’t tell me that death isn’t the most perfect way for him to have died… it’s just so unbelievably poetic. Obviously it probably sucked for him though. Image source: pesky-pretzel

#32

John Sedgwick: Major General in the Union Army during the American Civil War Sedgwick died at the beginning of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, on May 9, 1864. He noticed his men diving for cover, despite the Confederates shooting from 1,000 yards away. He said, "Why are you dodging like this? They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." He was shot by a rifle bullet moments later under the left eye and died. Image source: LexLuthorJr

#33

Darwin awards: drunk college kids pile in the back of a pickup truck and go steal a bunch of stop signs. On the way back the truck was struck by a semi that ran into an intersection..because it was missing a stop sign. Image source: Fliffs

#34

John O'Neill was the F.B.I.'s leading expert on Bin Laden. He retired from the F.B.I. in August of 2001.... and started work 19 days before 9/11 as head of security for a firm at the World Trade Center. Image source: flipperbomb

#35

Marlboro man died of lung cancer. Image source: New-Pain8652