The Most Ridiculous Deaths of 2013

Ah, Christmas! Eggnog, sleigh riding, hams and finding out from relatives who died in the last year. 2013 saw men killed by beavers and wine glasses, a pot grower whose head was severed by his own trip wire and a couple in the Ukraine run over by a train while having sex.

Here Digital Dying has gathered a list of the most ridiculous deaths of 2013..

Fisherman killed by beaver in Belarus –The 60 year old fisherman was driving with friends toward a lake west of capitol city Minsk when he spotted a beaver alongside the road and pulled over to have his picture taken with the animal. As he tried to grab the beaver it bit him several times. One bite sliced through a major leg artery. “The character of the wound was totally shocking,” explained the village doctor. “We had never run into anything like this before.” This was the latest in a series of Belarusian beaver attacks. Once hunted to near extinction, beavers, which can weigh 65 pounds and stand three feet tall, have made a comeback. According to Wildlife expert Viktor Kozlovsky, the bourgeoning beaver population is beginning to cause significant damage to forests and farms.

Other Great Reads: Swallowed, Chewed and Drowned By Hippos – Strange Deaths by Africa’s Most Dangerous Animal

Bus and train enthusiast bled to death from broken wine glass jab to leg – In a death eerily similar to the Belarusian beaver incident, John Fozard, a 66 year old Welsh man was taking out the trash when a broken wine glass slashed his leg and severed a major artery. “There were pools of blood everywhere,” a neighbor reported to the police, “splattered over the door and walls.” The cut, just above the knee, was an inch and a half long and had severed Fozard’s femoral artery, reported the coroner. Fozard had recently left his job as a bus driver to photograph old buses and trains. He owned a 1975 coach named Cyril he had driven across Britain. “It was a real shock,” said one friend. “He was very knowledgeable about every kind and type of bus and tram and trolley bus throughout the British Isles.”

Rabbit hunter accidentally shot himself in the head – Carl Rubisch and his friend Stuart Forrest were on an organized night-time shooting trip on a farm in Shropshire. The pair was in a Land Rover and upon spotting a rabbit about 80 yards away stopped and shone a powerful flashlight on the creature. “I then heard a shot and looked around and realized something was wrong,” Forrest explained. “Carl was standing by the Land Rover door, he turned to look at me and let out a groaning sound.” Rubisch, who had recently been married and was the father of two, had shot himself in the head. “I carried out a series of tests,” reported a shooting expert, “rubbing the rifle up against the boot, and found it was possible for the [zipper] to engage with the handle and fire the gun.”

Other Great Reads: How to handle grief after an accidental death

Ukranian couple hit by train while having sex on train tracks – A couple in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye was coming home from a party when they stopped along the railroad to make love. At some point a train appeared and barreled over the linked pair before they could get out of the way. The woman, in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The man, 41 years old, had both his legs severed and was taken to the hospital. He told police that, “they had failed to overcome their natural passion when walking home… and wanted to experience an extreme sensation near the railroad tracks.” Officers are now considering charging him for trespassing.

Pot grower tripped his own booby trap and severed head – Daniel Ricketts, age 50, was riding around his property in upstate New York on an ATV when he raced right through a thin piano wire. Ricketts was thrown from the vehicle, with his head almost completely severed from his body. According to the county sheriff, the nearly invisible wire had been set up by Ricketts to protect four large marijuana plants. Other fortifications included barbed wire and a leg trap.

Pensioner in Scotland trampled to death by cows – Richard Nicholson, 78, encountered a number of cows on farmland in Berwickshire. For some reason, the animals became hostile and trampled him to death. “Dad was well known and well-liked within the local community,” his son reported. “He will be sadly missed by all his family and friends.”

Happy holidays to all!!!