Eight (and a half) People Whose Jobs Actually Killed Them

We've all made those offhand comments: "This job is killing me," "I'd rather die than go to work this morning," and my personal favorite, "This job is sucking my will to live." But sometimes people's jobs really do kill them. I'm not too worried about myself; there probably aren't a whole lot of freak writing accidents (fatal writer's block? Paper cut to the wrist?) But racecar drivers, rock stars, baseball players and jockeys are all rather hazardous professions that sometimes cause on-the-job deaths. So next time you compare work to dying a slow death, think about these guys and remind yourself that your job isn't so bad.

1. Frank Hayes, Jockey

Hayes got the last laugh when he beat 20-1 odds to win at Belmont Park in 1923. At least, he would have gotten the last laugh if he was still alive when the race was over. Hayes was not a jockey by trade - he was actually a stablehand who managed to talk the owner of a horse into letting him ride. Sweet Kiss, the horse, came in first, but Hayes had a heart attack and died during the race. He was strapped on to Sweet Kiss well enough that he stayed upright right across the finish line. Even though the horse was a proven winner, no one wanted to ride it after that, nicknaming him "Sweet Kiss of Death". To date, Hayes is the only deceased jockey to win a race.

2.Les Harvey, Guitarist

In May 1972, Scottish band Stone the Crows lost their guitarist Les Harvey during a concert when he was electrocuted by a microphone onstage. His hands were wet and the microphone wasn't grounded. This makes Harvey part of the 27 Club, which you can read up on in my previous post on curses that seem to be working.

3. Jane Dornacker, Traffic Reporter

4. Ray Chapman, Shortstop

Surgery revealed that his brain was damaged on both sides - both from where the ball hit, of course, and also from when the force of the impact made his brain hit his skull on the other side of his head. Chapman died a few hours after the surgery. The 1920 Indians went on to win the World Series.

5. J.G. Parry-Thomas, Race Car Driver

Everyone knows about NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt's untimely death at the 2001 Daytona 500, but Welsh driver J.G. Parry-Thomas predated him by about 65 years. In 1927, Parry-Thomas was trying to break the land-speed record of 174.22 mph. Around 170 mph, a exposed chain on the car snapped, pretty much decapitating him. Although there are varying reports, from what I gather, he set a personal speed record but did not beat the world record.

6. Tiny Tim, Singer/Ukulele Player

Tiny Tim almost died on stage "“ he had a heart attack during a concert in Minneapolis on November 30, 1996. He had been warned earlier that year that his heart was in a very fragile condition and that he should no longer perform, but he kept playing concerts anyway. He died later that day at a local hospital after doctors had attempted to resuscitate him for more than an hour.

7. "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Guitarist

8. Joe Burrus, Escape Artist

Before David Blaine, there was Joe Burrus. Burrus was an escape artist who idolized Houdini "“ fitting, then that he died exactly 64 years after his hero. On Halloween in 1990, Burrus was chained and handcuffed inside a clear acrylic coffin seven feet below ground. The coffin was topped with dirt, followed by concrete. The concrete had not quite filled the hole when suddenly it dropped by about two feet, making it clear that the plastic coffin underneath had broken. By the time rescue workers pulled Burrus out of his self-made grave, he was already dead. Hopefully David Blaine takes this lesson to heart.

Not quite "on the job" but worth a mention anyway:

8.5. Thomas Midgely, Jr., Inventor

Thomas Midgely, Jr., was a celebrated inventor and chemist, who, among other things, discovered Freon (that stuff used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems). When he was diagnosed with polio and left disabled in 1940, he just couldn't suppress his inventor's spirit "“ he built a pulley system to move him in and out of bed. Unfortunately, it was this system that did him in "“ he accidentally strangled himself with one of the cords.