Number 9 Carl Shepherd Liverpool
In August of 2017, UK man Carl Shepherd Liverpool was visiting the Spanish island of Ibiza,
internationally renowned for its lively nightlife. 28-year-old Liverpool had gone clubbing with
friends, in Playa d’en Bossa, into the early hours of the morning. According to his companions,
Liverpool had extended his stay at the resort by another day. The decision would ultimately
result in the young father’s death. Others at the hotel would report seeing him asleep on the
balcony and claimed that he looked “stable”. It’s believed that Liverpool rolled over in his sleep
and went over the edge of the balcony as it had no barriers bordering it. He fell three stories and
sustained a catastrophic head injury. Paramedics battled to save his life for over 45 minutes,
but he passed away before reaching the hospital. A toxicology report found cocaine,
ecstasy and alcohol in Liverpool’s system. Number 8 MC Kevin
23-year-old Kevin Nascimento Bueno, better known as MC Kevin, was a favela funk and trap artist
from Brazil who died in May of 2021, after falling from a balcony. The incident occurred at the Brisa
Barra hotel, in an upper class neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. Bueno, who boasted an Instagram
following of nearly 9 million, had married criminal justice lawyer Deolane Bezerra
only a few weeks prior. On the night of his death Bueno was having intercourse at the
hotel with a female model and escort by the name of Bianca Domingues. He was joined by his artist
friend Victor Fontenelle in the affair. At some point Bueno learned that Bezerra,
who was at the hotel with him, had asked his security guard of his whereabouts and panicked
that he might be caught cheating. He tried to climb down from the balcony to a lower suite.
Fontanelle would tell the authorities that he’d emerged from the bathroom and saw Bueno dangling
from the balcony while holding on to a rail. The artist then slipped and fell five stories,
landing by the side of a swimming pool and sustaining critical injuries in the impact.
He suffered two heart attacks en route to Miguel Couto Hospital where he was later pronounced
dead. Domingues would tell the authorities that Bueno had resorted to the balcony escape attempt
because he’d believed that his wife was at the door. In the tragedy’s aftermath, she and
Bezerra had to be separated by police officers at the precinct after they’d exchanged punches.
Number 7 Natalie Cormack In April of 2018, a Scottish
teenager passed away following a balcony accident at the Eden Roc resort in Magaluf,
Spain. 19-year-old Natalie Cormack had attempted to climb on to her balcony after being locked
out of her room. She took a tragic misstep and plummeted seven stories to her death. In the
years leading up to Cormack’s passing there’d been a spate of deaths associated with “balconing”. The
term came to define holidaymakers, the majority of whom hailed from Britain, who risked their
lives by climbing balconies or jumping from them, often under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
One of the most prominent researchers in the field is surgeon Juan José Segura-Sampedro, aged 36,
who led a team that authored a study on the phenomenon called “Balconing: An alcohol-induced
craze that injures tourists”. In the aftermath, he collaborated with the British Foreign office
and launched a campaign aimed at warning British youth about the dangers. For his work towards
ensuring tourists’ safety he was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2021. A
friend of Cormack’s, Georgia Hague, became the face of the “Stick With Your Mates” campaign,
encouraging young holidaymakers to look out for each other especially if their friends
were under the influence. Number 6 Jennifer Walsh
Scottish woman Jennifer Walsh, from Edinburgh, suffered a devastating fall from a balcony while
visiting the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, in early October of 2021. Details of the nearly-fatal drop
were not made public beyond the horrific extent of her injuries. 22-year-old Walsh was left with
two skull fractures, a broken collarbone and a punctured lung. All the ribs on the left side of
her body were shattered and she’d also suffered a sprained wrist. Walsh was rushed to the hospital
where she underwent life-saving surgery for bleeding in her brain and was subsequently
placed in a medically induced coma. Her parents flew to Croatia to be by her side. They found
that Walsh didn’t have travel insurance and that the medical procedures she’d undergone could incur
serious costs. Her younger sister, Sara, initiated a GoFundMe campaign which rapidly raised a sum of
over $30,000. According to subsequent updates on the matter, Walsh had awoken from her coma
and was exhibiting slight movement. Number 5 Dora Lagreca
In the fall of 2021, Italian woman Dora Lagreca plummeted from the 4th floor balcony of an
apartment in Potenza, which she shared with her boyfriend. The incident took place at around 2
am, on October the 9th. Lagreca, aged 30, was rushed to the San Claro hospital
in critical condition and died a few hours later. Her boyfriend, 32-year-old Antonio Capasso,
was interviewed by the authorities and stated that the woman had intentionally thrown herself
over the rail, adding that he was unable to stop her. The investigation is ongoing and
some of those who knew Lagreca have expressed doubts that she’d have taken her own life.
It’s also known that she and Capasso had been arguing that evening and that he was known to have
jealous outbursts. He was suspected to have played an active role in the death of his girlfriend,
but hasn’t been formally charged, based on the latest information released to the media.
Number 4 Rachel Turner British woman Rachel Turner, of Birmingham,
died after falling from a balcony in Ibiza, in October of 2007. 22-year-old Turner, who’d been
working in San Antonio as a nightclub promoter, had taken a plunge of 17 feet and sustained an
“unsurvivable head injury”. Official inquiries carried out in the years that followed indicated
that her demise had been entirely accidental and not the result of foul play or the woman
taking her own life. In the tragedy’s aftermath, her parents spent tens of thousands of pounds
carrying out their own investigation, believing that Turner’s death had taken place under
suspicious circumstances. There was damage to the young woman’s nails and fingertips, potentially
indicating she’d fought off an attacker. The only witness to the fall had been former security guard
Michael Tollerfield, a Scottish man who’d known Turner for several weeks, although they weren’t
reported as being in a relationship. Tollerfield gave his witness testimony in three different
versions but the crux of the matter remained unchanged, that he’d spotted Turner on the ledge
and that she’d lost her balance as she pivoted and turned to speak with him.
Tollerfield was the one to administer first aid until the emergency services arrived at the scene.
In spite of his varying statements, Tollerfield wasn’t considered a person of interest, due to his
inebriated state at the time. Multiple coroners would explain the injuries on Turner’s fingertips
as being consistent with her attempting to grab hold of a hard surface during the accidental fall.
Number 3 Kirsty Maxwell
While attending a bachelorette party in the Spanish resort town of Benidorm,
in April of 2017, Scottish woman Kirsty Maxwell fell to her death from a 10th floor hotel balcony.
On the 28th of April, Maxwell and her companions checked into Apartamentos Payma. Afterwards, the
27-year-old, whom herself had only been married for a few months, went out to celebrate with the
rest of the bachelorette party. At around 5:35 the following morning she returned to her 9th floor
apartment with two friends. Roughly an hour later she fell asleep and was reportedly filmed snoring.
She then woke up and went up to the 10th floor, where some of her friends were staying. Maxwell,
still under the effect of alcohol from the night before, accidentally knocked on the wrong door
and walked into an apartment where five men, all of whom were from the Nottingham area in England,
were partying. Within minutes of entering the room, Maxwell plummeted to her death about
100 feet from the balcony, shortly before 8 am. The men, whom the media would dub the “Benidorm
Five”, became the subject of a homicide probe by local authorities. Cocaine was found in the
apartment’s bathroom and Maxwell fingerprints were discovered on an interior bathroom window. Yet,
no strong evidence of criminality was ever found. The five men were allowed to return to Britain
and were never formally charged with anything. Maxwell’s family criticized local authorities
for what they believed had been a superficial investigation but, in spite of their appeals,
the initial findings were maintained. Number 2 Philippa Tucker
In March of 2009, a New Zealand woman died in a freak accident while attending her
sister’s wedding near New Plymouth. 25-year-old Philippa Tucker, herself engaged to be married,
had been staying at a villa in Oakura with other family members. A few hours after talking on the
phone with her fiancé, she’d gotten up early in the morning and slipped over a balcony.
Tucker fell nearly 12 feet and impacted the concrete floor below. She struck her head
and suffered severe bleeding in her brain. Her groans awoke family members who then contacted
the emergency services. Paramedics treated Tucker at the scene, at around 5 am, but she
was pronounced dead later in the day at Taranaki Base Hospital. The authorities didn’t treat the
incident as suspicious with a senior sergeant on the case describing it as a “tragic mishap”.
Number 1 Olga Volkova and Yevgeny Karlagin In May of 2021, a couple having an argument
on the balcony of their apartment, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, narrowly avoided death after
suffering a horrific fall. It’s unclear how the dispute between Olga Volkova and Yevgeny Karlagin,
both 35, had started but, by the time that an onlooker had started filming the couple,
it had turned physical. Both were on the balcony floor with Volkova seemingly attempting to drag
Karlagin’s body. It’s been speculated that the man had fallen asleep on the balcony in a drunken
stupor but the report remained unconfirmed. As Volkova pulled on her boyfriend’s body,
she leaned against the rail which abruptly gave away. Both she and Karlagin were sent tumbling
over the edge of the balcony and fell an estimated 25 feet, smashing into the concrete below. The
entire incident, including the aftermath with them lying motionless on the pavement, was captured on
video. The couple, who shared a son, was taken to the hospital with severe injuries, including
several broken bones, but weren’t ultimately stabilized and deemed outside of mortal danger.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather jump from a second-story balcony into a shallow swimming pool
OR spend two days, with no supplies,
in a hot air balloon? Let us know in the comments section below!