Number 8: Atypical Allergic Reaction Pregnant Cassandra Hall lost her hubby in
the most tragic and unpredictable way, an allergic reaction brought on by some standard
fish.
Although the late Alexander Hall had reactions before, this one rocked his world and took
his life.
The youthful 37-year-old and his wife were merely enjoying dinner in Ballarat, Victoria,
Australia, when he suddenly became violently sick.
The culprit?
A regular piece of barramundi.
Unlike most of the other items on our list, this fish wasn’t contaminated in the slightest,
but Hall’s own body took exception to it, and it attacked him.
Hall immediately went into anaphylactic shock and was taken to the hospital, but the damage
was already done.
He lingered for 5 days before finally succumbing to the sickness, leaving his pregnant wife
widowed and shocked.
Horribly, most experts say that you can develop lethal allergies at any stage of life, so
you never know when that next delicious piece of fish that crosses your lips will be your
last.
Allergic reactions also intensify over time, so if you’ve ever felt a funny tingle after
eating a plate of fish, you should take extra precautions to avoid it in the future- and
when in doubt, carry an EpiPen!
Number 7: Death In The Dominican When Jeroen and Michou Venema traveled to
the Dominican Republic for their honeymoon, they couldn’t possibly have imagined that
a catastrophic chance encounter with contaminated fish would cut their marriage… and lives…
short.
The ill-fated day started with a trip to the island of Saona and ended with a deadly dinner
at the couple’s hotel, where they contracted Ciguatoxin poisoning, a nasty side-effect
of eating truly bad fish.
Although that part of the Dominican Republic is notorious for its murder/suicides, deliberate
poisoning was eventually ruled out.
Allegedly the unlucky pair spent the last few hours of their lives vomiting violently
before finally succumbing to the insidious effects of the Ciguatoxin.
Tragically, their lives might have been saved if someone knew what was happening and administered
Mannitol, but by the time anyone at the hotel figured it out, it was far too late for the
lovebirds.
They fell victim to a whole host of unforeseen circumstances; contaminated fish coupled with
the area’s history of murder/suicides by poisoning, and nobody was prepared for their
very preventable deaths.
Number 6: A Royal Incident Henry I of England wasn’t all that accustomed
to people telling him what to do, so when his royal advisors warned him not to consume
a heaping portion of lampreys, he brushed them off… to his ultimate detriment.
Lampreys don’t please many of today’s palettes; since they look more like an industrial
accident or a hideous mutation than a fish that you might want to eat, but back in the
day, lampreys were all the rage.
This eel-adjacent fish graced plates in all of the top houses and royal families, and
Henry I was especially fond of them.
The king was in his late 60s when he died, a ripe old age back in the 11th century, and
his doctor warned him not to stuff his face with lampreys lest the pesky fish test his
ticker too much.
Henry didn’t listen and ultimately became ill and died that night.
Today, if you want to follow in the steps of ancient royalty, you too can find and prepare
lampreys, although their blood-sucking mouths might put you off taking your first bite.
These slitherers are supposed to taste a whole lot like squid, and as long as you take off
the heads, they might not be half bad.
Number 5: Too Much Seafood Robbie Williams will tell you that too much
of a good thing can almost spell certain death.
The Take That singer was famous for his fishy diet, consuming copious amounts of tuna, squid,
and octopus all of the time.
While a diet full of moderate amounts of seafood is generally never a problem, if you’re
eating all seafood all of the time, you’re also eating plenty of mercury.
Fortunately for Williams, a routine blood test alerted him to the problem, and he was
able to switch up his diet before it was too late.
If left untreated, mercury poisoning can contribute to skin cancer or lung disease... or just
straight-up kill you.
Whatever comes first.
Back in the day, mercury poisoning was to blame for many people “going mad” and
is featured in plenty of different types of literature, including the famous Mad Hatter
from Alice and Wonderland.
Today, we have better types of testing, so it’s unlikely that you’ll get this ancient
ailment unless you go crazy for the seafood and try to eat the whole ocean like Robbie
Williams!
Number 4: Seriously Bad Shellfish Marty Feldman is best known for his roles
in Young Frankenstein and Yellowbeard, but we’re pretty confident that the comedic
Brit never wanted to play the role that ended his life, victim of food poisoning.
Feldman was filming in Mexico City in 1982 when disaster struck in the form of dodgy
shellfish that ultimately gave him a massive heart attack… and ended his life.
Feldman was traveling with a friend, Michael Mileham, who also got incredibly ill from
the contaminated plate, although he lived to tell the tale.
Horribly, a week before the cherished comedian passed away; he told a reporter that he was
too old to die young and too young to grow up.
He was only 49 when he succumbed to the shellfish in Mexico City, and his death was a huge blow
to the international comedy community.
Interestingly, most people will run afoul of lousy fish or shellfish sometime in their
lives, but only an unlucky few will die as a result.
You’re far more likely to wind up sleeping with the fishes if you have a bad heart, pre-existing
condition, or undiagnosed allergy.
Number 3: Lethal Leftovers A 72-year-old man from Shanghai learned about
the dangers of doggy bags the hard way when he decided to snack on his seafood leftovers
and nearly paid with his life.
Shockingly, he’d only had the sketchy leftovers in his refrigerator for 1 day, but the seafood
had soured, and the man was left with acute gastroenteritis.
There was no mistaking what was happening, especially as his fever spiked to nearly 102
degrees.
On top of the dizzying fever, his symptoms included horrific stomach cramps and explosive
diarrhea, but that was just the beginning of his fateful brush with food poisoning!
After being admitted to the Xinhua Hospital, he got an additional, terrifying diagnosis;
sepsis; a devastating blood infection that’s fatal if not treated.
Sepsis can not only kill you, but it can have lifetime ramifications and impact your organs
for years to come, so it’s best to avoid this type of bad blood if you can.
Fortunately, the man from Shanghai made a full recovery after his harrowing double-diagnosis
of gastroenteritis and sepsis, although we are willing to bet that he will never, ever,
eat leftovers again!
Number 2: Deadly Raw Clams A Raleigh, North Carolina man, feasted on
raw clams and oysters at a restaurant and paid the ultimate price when he contracted
Vibrio Vulnificus, a nasty bacteria found in coastal waters all over the world.
Although the health department got involved, it soon became clear that this was nothing
but a tragic accident, as all procedures were followed to the letter… which frankly makes
it a whole hell of a lot scarier.
Despite doing everything right, the vicious Vibrio Vulnificus slithered its way onto the
plate and struck an unsuspecting diner dead.
The one silver lining, if there is one, is that those with healthy immune systems are
far less likely to contract the deadly strain.
These days, it’s harder than ever to deduce the origins of contaminated shellfish because
the dish you’re eating most likely has varieties from all over the planet, so Vibrio Vulnificus
might be lurking on plates all over the world.
Scary thought!
Number 1: Fatal Fugu Fugu is a Japanese delicacy that is literally
to die for.
It’s a type of pufferfish preparation, perfected by Japanese sushi chefs, and if they get it
a tiny bit wrong, you’ll wind up in the morgue.
Pufferfish, also known as blowfish, contains tetrodotoxin, a lethal poison that is 1,200
times more powerful than cyanide.
If you’re wondering why in the hell anyone would want to eat this fish on purpose, the
answer might surprise you.
Fugu is a prized dish in Japan, although authorities crack down on who can prepare it and how much
can be served.
Sashimi and sushi specialists use particular knives when slicing through the venomous flesh
of the pufferfish, and they also keep it separate and contained away from every other ingredient;
as to not accidentally infuse your ahi tuna with a little tetrodotoxin.
Of course, all that prep-work and care comes with a pretty hefty price tag.
You won’t be able to sample delicious and deadly fugu for less than $100.
In total, this lethal fish has felled 23 people in Japan alone since 2000, and it’s not
a pretty death.
Tetrodotoxin is a violent way to go, starting with numbness, escalating to paralysis, and
finishing in agonizing death.
You don’t black out, and there is no known antidote.
Even still, people are beating the doors of licensed fugu sellers down to get a taste
of the forbidden fish.
Apparently, some like to live dangerously!
Bon appetit!
Thanks for watching!
Would you rather slurp down a huge plate of raw, blood-sucking lampreys or roll the dice
with Japan’s most fatal fish, fugu?
Let us know in the comments section below.