Combining alcohol and a camera often leads to cringe-worthy situations. Combine alcohol, a camera and a loaded gun and you’re just asking for tragedy. Sadly, such was the tale of 21-year old Oscar Aguilar who, while getting drunk with his pals, thought it would be cool to take a selfie of himself with a loaded pistol. You can probably see where this is going.
With the safety clearly not on, Oscar proceeded to take the photo and, without warning, the gun went off while pointed at his head. Paramedics arrived on the scene to find him shockingly still alive, but the victim passed away before he could be taken to a medical facility.
First dates can be nerve wracking. I’ve often joked, “I hope I survive” when going to meet someone for the first time. Unfortunately in this story Cheynee Holloway, 21, did not survive her first date with James Nichols, 23. After spending some time getting to know each other online Nichols traveled more than 8,000 miles from Ashbourne, Derbyshire to Johannesburg to meet Holloway for the very first time.
During their first date, the went to Northcliff Hill in Johannesburg to take some photos. As Nichols was attempting to set a camera timer for a photo of the two along a ledge, the rocks gave way under Holloway, sending her plummeting to her death fifty feet below. Nichols was able to reach Holloway, but despite attempting to give her CPR for 20 minutes, he could not save his love.
Some solid advice: when you’re climbing a mountain but down your phone. On Saturday, March 12, 2016, a lone hiker in Hong Kong failed to heed that advice while trekking on Lion Rock Mountain. The unidentified man was seen by witnesses taking a selfie by a ridge, with the mountain in the background when he fell. Nearby hikers attempted to pull him up, but he fell and was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics.
Here, let’s try this again. “If you can fall a long way, put the camera phone away.” In 2014 a student fell to her death after trying take a selfie on the Puente de Triana bridge in Seville, Spain. 23-year old Sylwia Rajchel, a medical student from Poland, was visiting the city on vacation and had even intended to move there once she finished school. However, as she stood precariously on the edge of the bridge to take a selfie, she fell to the ground below.
While fifteen feet may not sound like much the fall in Sylwia’s case, it sent her into cardiac arrest and she passed away in the hospital shortly thereafter.
If you’re sick of listening to the reminders about the dangers of using your phone while driving then pay attention to this tragic story – then shut the hell up. Courtney Sanford was driving her Toyota Corolla to work while the hit song “Happy” was playing on the radio. Courtney decided to snap a “selfie” with her phone to share the moment on Facebook. Sadly she didn’t wait until she pulled over to post the photo. While still driving she opened the app, snapped the selfie and posted it to Facebook. While she was posting the photo her car veered into oncoming traffic where she collided with 24,000 lb recycling truck, left the road, impacted with a tree and burst into flames. Courtney was just 32 years old.
Unless you’re James Bond or an old west outlaw, you should perhaps stay off the tops of trains. A 21-year old unnamed man from the Andújar, Spain tried just that but did not live to tell the tale.
The man and his friends climbed atop a commercial hauling train to take photos of themselves. Also on top of the train? Dangerous high voltage wires, one of which the man touched – sending him flying off the train. Emergency services who rushed to the scene had to wait until the electricity supply at local stations was cut so they could treat the man. However, he was declared dead at he scene.
We’ve had bridges, trains, electricity, people falling and clutching onto things for dear life. This story combines all of these. Xenia Ignatyeva, a 17-year old aspiring photographer from St. Petersburg Russia, had decided that the perfect place for a selfie was on a train bridge in the middle of the night. After climbing the 30-ft. high bridge, she lost her balance and fell towards the concrete below.
As would anyone in that situation, Xenia reached out to grab something – anything – to stop her fall. Sadly, what she managed to grab onto were high voltage cables that had 1.5kV flowing through them.
Moving vehicles and selfies are not a good combination if that hasn’t already been made clear. In 2014, 29-year old Colorado pilot Amritpal Singh took some friends on leisurely night flight in a Cessna 150K. A GoPro was found near the wreckage and the files were recovered. Based on the available information, it is likely that the GoPro files were recorded on the date of the accident, with the final GoPro file recorded during the six-minute flight in the traffic pattern. The GoPro revealed that the pilot and passengers were taking selfies, using flashes, during their night time flight possibly causing spacial disorientation which caused Singh to lose control of the plane. Singh and one of his passengers were killed in the crash.