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A simple scrape on the knee from a rough game of football (or soccer, if that's your preference) or a sprained ankle from wearing heels—small injuries that many of us have experienced and recovered from. However, some seemingly insignificant incidents can escalate quickly, leading to catastrophic outcomes such as prolonged comas, multiple skin grafts, or even death.
10. Heather Harbottle: A Paper Cut Results in a Skin Graft
In 2020, 49-year-old Heather Harbottle had a near-fatal encounter when a paper cut became infected with a flesh-eating bacteria. What seemed like a minor inconvenience turned into a serious case of necrotizing fasciitis, a condition that destroys skin, muscle, and soft tissue. It all began with a cut on her left hand and quickly spread to her armpits and heart. She was rushed to the hospital just in time to avoid losing her arm, with doctors opting for a skin graft instead.
9. Michael Berger: A Simple Paper Cut Turns Septic
A chilling example of a seemingly insignificant paper cut leading to grave complications comes from 46-year-old Michael Berger of New Jersey. He fell into a medically-induced coma for three weeks due to sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to an infection that can result in organ failure. The infection, which started from a cut on his finger, quickly spread throughout his body. Doctors gave him a 50% survival rate. Thankfully, he was admitted to the hospital's nationally recognized Sepsis Program, which helped him pull through, and he is still alive today.
8. Bobby Leach: An Orange Peel Leads to Gangrene
Back in 1926, Bobby Leach’s relaxing trip in New Zealand took a deadly turn when he slipped on an orange peel, injuring his leg. While initially dismissing the injury, the wound became infected, eventually leading to gangrene. In an era with limited medical advancements, amputation was the only solution, but he tragically did not survive. Ironically, Leach had previously been the second person to ever go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel, but it was a mere piece of fruit skin that brought about his untimely demise.
7. Callum Jones: A Sprained Ankle Leads to a Fatal Blood Clot
In October 2021, 27-year-old Callum Jones injured his ankle while walking his dog across a wooden bridge. After the pain intensified, he visited the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a fractured ankle. His foot was placed in a protective boot and he was given crutches. However, during a follow-up visit, it was revealed that he had sustained severe ligament and tendon sprains.
Just two days later, Callum Jones experienced difficulty breathing and felt intense pain in his chest and shoulders. After consulting his local doctor over the phone, he was diagnosed with pleuritis, an illness that affects the lungs and causes chest discomfort. However, Jones suddenly collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital, where it was revealed he had died from a pulmonary embolism—blocked blood vessels in his lungs. This tragic outcome was a direct result of the immobility caused by his ligament injury.
6. Alex Braes: A Broken Toenail Leads to a Deadly “Skin-Eating Disease”
18-year-old Alex Braes from New South Wales woke one night with agonizing knee pain. His father rushed him to the hospital, where doctors presumed it was due to sports injuries and scheduled an ultrasound for the next morning. When they arrived, there were no doctors available to check the results, and his vitals went unexamined.
When Braes returned home, his knee pain worsened dramatically, so he called for an ambulance. Unfortunately, no ambulances were available, so his father drove him to the hospital once again. Upon arrival, Alex was wheelchair-bound, semi-conscious, and unable to speak clearly. Doctors soon diagnosed him with necrotizing fasciitis, the deadly 'skin-eating' disease, which was caused by a broken toenail. Tragically, despite being flown to Sydney hospital by helicopter, Alex Braes passed away from cardiac arrest the following day.
5. Harry Houdini: The Few Blows That Ended the Life of the Renowned Escape Artist
As one of the most legendary magicians and escape artists of the 20th century, Harry Houdini was well-versed in evading danger. However, at 52 years old, Houdini performed for the final time on stage before succumbing to the effects of two brutal punches to his stomach. Just twelve days prior to his death on October 31, 1926, Houdini had been speaking to a group of students. He proudly boasted about the strength of his abdominal muscles and claimed they could withstand powerful punches. A curious student, eager to test this theory, unexpectedly delivered three or four hard blows to Houdini's stomach.
Although he didn’t have time to properly prepare for these unexpected strikes, Houdini brushed off the pain and even proceeded with his final performance. What he didn’t know was that the punches had actually ruptured his appendix. At the time, he only experienced mild stomach cramps and discomfort. It wasn’t until he became ill and feverish on the train to Detroit that he realized something was terribly wrong. He was quickly hospitalized, and doctors performed an emergency operation. Sadly, the ruptured appendix had poisoned his body, and Houdini died soon after.
4. Keith Clarke: Stubbed Toe Leads to Organ Failure
Though many of us have had the unfortunate experience of stubbing our toe on a hidden object, for 59-year-old father of two Keith Clarke, it turned out to be fatal. While vacationing in Florida, Clarke visited a simulated coral reef pool, where rocks containing living coral were scattered around the pool. Accidentally stubbing his toe on one of the rocks, he didn’t think much of it. However, three days later, while at an airport on his way back to Manchester, he collapsed. Rushed to Central Florida Regional Hospital, he was diagnosed with septic shock and organ failure. Clarke was flown back to England in an air ambulance on July 2, where doctors had to amputate both of his legs below the knee. Unfortunately, it was too late, and Clarke died of multiple organ failure caused by a bloodstream infection just eight weeks after the incident.
3. Sam Ballard: A Slug Swallowed Results in Paralysis
In 2010, Sam Ballard, a 19-year-old from Sydney, Australia, was at a friend's house when a slug made its way across the patio. His friends dared him to eat it, and he accepted. Little did anyone know that this seemingly innocent, though repulsive, act would result in a fatal outcome.
Initially, Ballard felt fine. However, a few days later, he became severely ill, feeling weak and experiencing excruciating leg pain. Though doctors first suspected multiple sclerosis, given his father's diagnosis, further testing revealed that he had contracted a rat lungworm infection from the infected slug. This parasitic disease caused inflammation around his brain and spinal cord.
While rat lungworm infections are often mild and treatable, Ballard's case was terminal. After his diagnosis, he fell into a coma for 420 days. Upon waking, he was paralyzed and reliant on a feeding tube. After enduring eight years of suffering, Ballard tragically passed away in 2018 due to complications from his condition.
2. Jasmine Beever: Hairball in Stomach Ends in Death
In 2017, 16-year-old Jasmine Beever collapsed at her college and was sent home to recover. When large red blotches appeared on her skin, she was rushed to the hospital. Although doctors managed to revive her for 15 minutes, Beever tragically passed away that evening.
The cause of Jasmine Beever's death was an infection stemming from a hairball lodged in her stomach. A post-mortem revealed she had developed peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdomen's lining. For years, Beever had been chewing on her hair, a behavior likely linked to 'Rapunzel syndrome.' This led to a hairball that could not pass through her system, accumulating in her stomach.
1. Brittanie Cecil: Fatal Flying Hockey Puck
On March 16, 2002, Brittanie Cecil attended an NHL game, a birthday gift from her father. Sadly, this outing would end tragically when a player's slapshot was deflected by an opponent's stick. The puck flew into the lower seats of the arena, striking Cecil above the nose. She was rushed to the hospital, where she appeared conscious and even seemed to improve the next day.
However, a CT scan missed a tear in her vertebral artery, which caused clotting and brain swelling. Forty-eight hours later, Brittanie Cecil passed away on March 18, just two days before her 14th birthday. In the wake of her tragic death, safety netting was installed around NHL arenas, and Cecil remains the only fan fatality in NHL history.
