Number 9 River Rosenquist
Shortly after closing hours, on December of 29th of 2021, a maintenance worker at Florida’s
Naples Zoo entered an unauthorized area of the facility. He crossed a fence barrier and
put his arm through the fencing of a tiger’s enclosure. The 26-year-old man, identified as
River Rosenquist, proceeded to either pet or feed an 8-year-old Malayan tiger named Ecko.
The animal then attacked him, grabbing his arm and pulling it into the cage. Rosenquist called
the emergency services to ask for help and, when a deputy arrived at the scene, he saw the worker
with his arm in the feline’s mouth. At first, the officer kicked the fence to try and scare Ecko,
hoping that he would let go of Rosenquist’s arm. Seeing as the animal wouldn’t budge, he pulled
his gun out and shot it dead, later reporting he’d been “forced” to do so in order to save
Rosenquist’s life. The latter suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Doctors managed to save his arm and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office announced he wouldn’t be
criminally charged in the death of the tiger. Number 8 Fabien Ardoin
Mechanical engineering student and part-time model Fabien Ardoin was hiking with a group of friends
and his girlfriend through Australia’s Royal National Park, on June the 8th of 2014. The park
is home to the Wedding Cake Rock attraction, which is fenced-off and features signs warning that it
could fall at any time. In spite of the clearly stated dangers, the sandstone rock formation
is a favorite among daredevil photo enthusiasts and local authorities have reportedly struggled
to keep people from it. 23-year-old Ardoin, who had previously worked as a rock-climbing
instructor in France for approximately four years, deviated from the safe path to reach the edge.
Ardoin was allegedly hanging from the side of the rock when it crumbled in his hands,
causing him to lose his grip. Other reports stated that he’d slipped while jumping from a lower tier
to an upper portion of the sandstone formation. In the moments that followed, he plummeted over
130 feet, or about half the height of a giant sequoia tree, to the turbulent waters below.
Due to high winds and rough seas, it took rescuers roughly six hours to find Ardoin’s lifeless body.
Number 7 Cheryl Maury 33-year-old Cheryl Renee
Maury was trying to scale a fence surrounding an outdoor swimming pool in Greer, South Carolina,
on July the 7th of 2015. While accompanied by a friend, at around midnight, the mother-of-three
started climbing the wrought-iron fence, trying to reach the neighborhood pool. During the attempt,
Maury lost her footing and fell onto the metal structure, resulting in her leg and pelvis region
being impaled by a spike. Her friend consequently called 911. Emergency workers had to cut the fence
in order to free Maury and she was rushed to the hospital with part of the metal spike
still embedded in her leg. Her wound resulted in critical blood loss, as the spike appeared
to have severed at least one major artery. Doctors performed emergency surgery on her, but
the woman was ultimately pronounced dead. Number 6 Leanne
A woman in her 30s, only identified as Leanne, visited the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix,
Arizona, on March the 9th of 2019. When she reached the jaguar’s cage,
Leanne leaned over the barrier keeping visitors at a safe distance from the deadly predator. The
jaguar then pushed its paw through a hole in the fence and clawed at the woman’s arm,
leaving her with multiple lacerations. Passersby rushed to her aid and paramedics were called
to the scene. Leanne was taken to a local hospital, where doctors stitched up her wounds,
which weren’t deemed life-threatening. While subsequently speaking to a media outlet,
Leanne said she felt lucky to have survived the mauling, admitting it had been wrong of her to
ignore the barrier. The woman added that the zoo should consider moving the fence back to prevent
other visitors from making the same mistake. Number 5 Felon Smith
On June the 27th of 2019, Felon Smith was at the 69th Street Red Line Station in Chicago, Illinois,
while on her way to retrieve some papers from her downtown office. As she was waiting for the train,
Smith dropped her cell phone, which tumbled down the train tracks. The 37-year-old woman
climbed down to pick it up, ignoring the warning sign telling riders to stay off the railway.
Smith was on the tracks for only 17 seconds before being fatally hit by the Chicago L Train.
Following the woman’s death, her family asked for the adoption of a “Felon Smith Act” requiring
train stations to install guardrails, more warning signs and bigger staffing numbers. Surveillance
footage released later in the investigation showed that the train’s operator hadn’t been
paying attention to what was happening in front. Approximately 12 seconds before the accident,
he’d been looking out the window and making hand gestures at the ongoing traffic. After the video
surfaced in the media, he was fired for violating guidelines regarding train operations. However,
transit authorities stated that it was impossible to determine if the train could’ve been stopped in
time to avoid the fatal impact. Number 4 Ayano Tokumasu
20-year-old Japanese woman Ayano Tokumasu was visiting the Niagara River, on August
the 14th of 2011. Tokumasu, who was a student at a Toronto language school, climbed up on the railing
to get a better look at the Niagara’s famous waterfalls. After stepping up to the barrier,
the young woman lost her balance and fell into the water, almost 80 feet upstream from the brink of
Horseshoe Falls. Tokumasu was swiftly carried by the current and swept over the precipice,
which stands at over 180 feet. Emergency workers searched the area with boats and helicopters in
an effort to find her body, which was eventually retrieved several days after the tragic incident
by the Niagara Parks Police. Andrea Smith and Jason Watson, a Canadian couple vacationing in
the area, were reported to have inadvertently been captured in the same photo with Tokumasu,
moments before she suffered the fatal fall. The photo, picked up by multiple media outlets,
showed the young woman in the background, after she’d already climbed up the stone
ledge on which the barrier sat. Number 3 Dale Whitehurst
While walking home near Wolstanton Retail Park in Stoke-on-Trent,
England, Dale Whitehurst decided to take a shortcut, in June of 2021. In doing so, the man
attempted to climb a seven-foot metal palisade security fence. He managed to get up on it but
then slipped, resulting in his jeans being pulled down around his ankles and cutting the blood flow
to his feet. As he fell over, Whitehurst hit his head and was knocked unconscious.
The 44-year-old was left hanging upside down on the fence, with jagged spikes piercing both his
ankles. When Whitehurst awoke, he couldn’t feel his legs. Whenever he tried freeing himself,
the jeans only twisted tighter around his ankles until the pain would just knock him out again.
His phone was out of reach so he tried screaming for help, but received no response and ended up
being stranded on the fence for five days. The man subsequently recalled thinking he was going to die
and that he’d started experiencing hallucinations due to the high summer temperatures. At night he
would get cold and start feeling the lack of food and water. While trying to survive,
Whitehurst managed to get hold of an empty soda can in which he’d urinate and then use
for hydration. On the fifth day, he heard people walking by again and started screaming loudly.
Three young men approached him and, as one of them ran to get help, another went to get him
water. Whitehurst later learned one of the men was an off-duty police officer.
Firefighters responding to the emergency call had to cut down nearby trees to release him.
He was taken to the Royal Stoke Hospital, where doctors told him they needed to amputate both of
his legs, because they were severely infected and covered in dead flesh. Medical staff reported that
Whitehurst had had oxygen trapped inside every organ and described his survival as miraculous.
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Number 2 Joshua Thomas Taylor Joshua Thomas Taylor was driving
along with his family on Interstate 65, near downtown Nashville, Tennessee, on May the 5th
of 2022. When his child threw his favorite toy out of the window, 32-year-old Taylor decided to keep
driving, only to return later that night to search for it. He drove back to the area at around 9 pm,
parked at an off-ramp and got out of the car to look for the toy, but he was unable to find it.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation HELP truck drivers approached him and tried
to talk to him. Potentially startled by them, Taylor then ran across the interstate and
jumped over the barrier to the northbound side. The truck drivers immediately started travelling
to the opposite side of the interstate when they heard a loud collision. Moments after
jumping the barrier, Taylor was hit by an SUV and subsequently pronounced dead at the
scene. According to a statement released by the police, the driver involved in the accident didn’t
display any signs of impairment and he hadn’t been crossing the speed limit when the impact occurred.
Number 1 Madalyn Davis On the night of January the 11th of 2020,
Instagram model Madalyn Davis and her friends were at a party in Vaucluse, a suburb of Sydney,
Australia. At around 6 am, they all decided to visit Diamond Bay cliffs, a popular selfie spot
nearby, to watch the sunrise. In an attempt to get a better photo of herself with the view,
21-year-old Davis climbed over a safety barrier to go and sit on the edge of a cliff. At some point,
the young woman lost her balance and plunged to her death more than 250 feet. Witnesses later
reported to have heard her friends saying “she has gone” before they called the emergency services at
around 6:32 am. Her lifeless body was found wedged in a rock shelf, roughly 55 feet below the surface
of the sea. Police didn’t suspect foul play in the incident and a coroner recorded a verdict
of misadventure. Further investigations revealed that Davis had a mix of alcohol and drugs in her
system. The coroner noted that the substances had likely impaired her balance and decision making.
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