#7 - Alexander Kirkley
32-year-old tree surgeon Alexander Kirkley was cutting branches off of an ash tree in
Oxford, England on February the 12th of 2016 when his chainsaw abruptly malfunctioned.
Documents from a subsequent inquest by Oxford Coroner's Court detailed how the dangerous
tool had “kicked back” and struck the man’s neck, causing him to fall unconscious.
One of Kirkley’s colleagues attempted to stymie the bleeding from his neck wound until
the eventual arrival of emergency medical personnel.
Kirkley was rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital, where he ultimately passed away from his injuries.
The Oxford-born tradesman was later described by one of his former trainers as “one of
the most safety-conscious tree surgeons” he’d ever encountered.
Furthermore, a Health and Safety Executive agent told the court that he believed Kirkley
and his co-workers had been using the tree-cutting equipment in accordance with regulatory safety
requirements, and ultimately attributed the fatal accident to “bad luck”.
Speaking after the inquest, Kirkley’s mother called his death “a fluke of nature”,
and indicated that the Kirkley family would be exploring ways to make the tree surgery
profession safer for workers.
#6 - Paul Welch
On January the 2nd of 2021, 53-year-old Paul Welch was involved in a freak accident while
walking along the shoreline in Cornwall, England.
As was later detailed following an official inquest into the incident, the man had been
in the process of restoring a boat at Sailor’s Creek when a considerably sized tree suddenly
crashed down onto the area where he’d been working.
Local firefighters rushed to the scene and found Welch in critical condition after having
been violently struck by fallen branches.
While being transported to the hospital, Welch ultimately died from the major head injury
he’d sustained in the accident.
According to the coroner who reviewed the case, the land on which the victim had been
working on the day of his death was owned by Trefusis Estate.
The company had reportedly agreed to allow Welch to keep his boat at Sailor’s Creek
while he restored it back to seaworthy status.
A Trefusis Estate official indicated that a local arborist company called TreeWise had
been responsible for performing periodic tree maintenance in the area.
During the inquest in June of 2022, it was revealed that Welch’s death had been the
result of tragic misfortune, as the tree that ultimately killed him had accidentally been
overlooked during TreeWise’s recent inspection of the land.
#5 - Eduardo Gonzalez
A teenage criminal was arrested in early 2011 after he and 2 accomplices were caught stealing
vehicle emblems from a car dealership in Lufkin, Texas.
After the suspects fled with the stolen merchandise, they reportedly hit a critical spot of bad
luck when their car broke down on South First Street.
Police officers eventually stopped to check on the disabled vehicle, at which point they
allegedly noted the distinct smell of marijuana emanating from inside.
The 3 occupants, one of whom was named as Eduardo Gonzalez, were detained on suspicion
of drug possession.
Upon further inspection of the car, the police found a total of 8 vehicle emblems that had
been swiped from the hoods of Cadillac Escalades parked on the lot of Peltier Chevrolet, which
was located a short distance from where the getaway car had eventually broken down.
Gonzalez and his 2 associates were consequently charged with criminal mischief, as well as
possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to subsequent reports on the matter, the incident marked the second occasion in
as many years that Gonzalez had been arrested under especially misfortunate circumstances.
In June of 2009, the teen had allegedly burglarized a vehicle at Due's Wrecker Service in Lufkin.
Upon the arrival of the police, Gonzalez had fled the scene on foot, and the chase reportedly
culminated with him unwittingly running right into the pursuing officers.
#4 - Arisara Karbdecho
Thai model and social media influencer Arisara Karbdecho fell into a coma and needed to be
hospitalized following an unfortunate choking mishap in March of 2022.
According to the 27-year-old’s mother, she’d been rushing to finish a meal on the day of
the incident when the food she was eating, reported as having been pork kebabs and sticky
rice, became lodged in her throat.
Unable to breathe due to the blockage in her windpipe, Karbdecho was rushed to the hospital
to receive emergency treatment.
Unfortunately, however, by the time of her arrival, her brain had already been deprived
of too much oxygen, and she was consequently placed on life support.
After spending the next 3 months comatose in the hospital, Karbdecho ultimately passed
away on June the 6th of 2022.
The doctors in charge of her care indicated that the entire ordeal was fraught with unlucky
circumstances, and that the prominent social media figure’s initial arrival at the hospital
was about “9 minutes too late” to save her life.
#3 - Dustin Shawn Mitchell
The authorities in Johnson City, Tennessee charged a particularly unlucky petty criminal
in connection to the theft of a shoe and a skateboard from a parked car on April the
5th of 2015.
The victim of the alleged auto burglary told the police that the suspect had broken into
her vehicle in the parking lot of the Lakebridge Health Care Center in order to steal the items,
which were valued at approximately $320 in total.
The incident was captured in its entirety by security cameras positioned nearby, and
investigators were ultimately able to use the footage to identify the thief as 31-year-old
Dustin Shawn Mitchell.
At the time of his identification, Mitchell was already in custody at the Washington County
Detention Center on an unrelated charge of failure to appear in court.
The latter offense had resulted in bond revocation from his initial arrest, which had occurred
roughly a week earlier on March the 27th, at which time he’d been hit with numerous
charges, including his fourth DUI.
Mitchell had allegedly been spotted driving erratically in a stolen vehicle, inside of
which officers also found several illegal substances.
His detainment in relation to the shoe and skateboard theft, his third arrest in a matter
of weeks, brought an additional $11,000 to his bond.
#2 - 2014 Wichita Plane Crash
On October the 30th of 2014, a twin-engine airplane crashed shortly after taking off
from the Flight Safety International Learning Center at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in
Kansas.
The craft, reportedly being flown by decorated pilot and air traffic controller Mark Goldstein,
collided with a building, killing 3 people that were undergoing a training session in
a flight simulator.
Only seconds into his flight, 53-year-old Goldstein, who ultimately died in the accident
as well, reported to the control tower that he’d lost power in his left engine.
Following a subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, it was
determined that the “the pilot's failure to maintain lateral control of the airplane
after a reduction in left engine power” as well as his “failure to follow the emergency
procedures for an engine failure during takeoff”, had been the primary causes of the eventual
crash.
The resulting fire was extinguished less than an hour after the initial accident by Airport
Police and Fire crews, who’d reportedly undergone a fire safety training session the
previous day.
News of the tragic incident went viral online, with many commenting on how the victims had
been particularly unlucky, given how improbable it was to die in an airplane crash while inside
a grounded flight simulator.
#1 - Melanie Martinez
The devastating tropical cyclone nicknamed Hurricane Isaac tore through the town of Braithwaite,
Louisiana on August the 29th of 2012.
Having had multiple very close experiences with other tropical storms in the past, local
resident Melanie Martinez began preparing for her and her family to flee from their
home as soon as the hurricane arrived in Braithwaite.
However, after the woman’s pickup truck unexpectedly broke down, the Martinez family
was forced to take refuge from the storm in the attic of their house.
Along with her husband, her 8 pets, and her 74-year-old mother, who relied on dialysis
to live, Martinez was trapped in the attic until Hurricane Isaac had swept through the
area.
Then, at about 2 am, floodwater surged over Braithwaite’s 8-foot levee and a secondary
wave hit the town.
A brave neighbor eventually broke into the Martinez’s house and rescued them from the
attic, but not before the storm had left the home in ruins.
In the wake of the incident, Martinez was dubbed “the unluckiest woman in America”,
as it marked the 5th occasion in her lifetime in which her house had been destroyed by a
hurricane.
As was detailed in an article published by The Guardian, each of Martinez’s previous
Louisiana homes had been wiped out, first by Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
Similar incidents followed with Hurricane Juan in 1985, Hurricane George in 1998, and
Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
According to subsequent reports, the home that had been decimated by Hurricane Isaac
had just recently undergone $20,000 worth of renovations on an episode of the reality
TV series Hideous Houses.
Thanks for watching!
Would you rather have terrible luck for a week every time you forget a person's name
or have to recite an entire chapter of The Odyssey to win your in-laws' blessing?
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