1.In 1923, Frank Hayes was riding his horse Sweet Kiss in a race in New York City. He had a heart attack and died while still mounted on the horse. Sweet Kiss crossed the finish line and won first place, making Hayes the only jockey to ever win a horse race while dead.
2.On June 30, 2013, during a soccer game in northern Brazil, referee Otávio da Silva and player Josenir dos Santos got into a fist fight after dos Santos was expelled from the game. Dos Santos refused to leave the field, and the ensuing fight escalated until da Silva stabbed the player, who died on his way to the hospital. Friends and family of dos Santos rushed the field and stoned the referee to death before dismembering his body.
3.On Dec. 13, 1977, the University of Evansville men's basketball team were flying to Nashville for a game when their plane crashed, two minutes after takeoff. The entire team, which included 14 players, three coaches, and support personnel, died. Their statistician, David Furr, who could not travel with the team that day, was killed in a car crash two weeks later.
4.In 1912, R. Norris Williams survived the Titanic disaster after swimming onto a collapsable lifeboat. But since his legs had been submerged in freezing water for several hours, they were so frostbitten that doctors said they had no choice but to amputate. Williams refused amputation, opting instead to walk around every two hours despite the pain. It worked, and he went on to win several tennis world championships.
5.Martha Puebla was killed in the San Fernando Valley, California, on May 12, 2003. Police arrested Juan Catalan for the murder, even though he insisted he was at a Dodgers game with his daughter when the crime took place. He provided police with ticket stubs and testimonies to prove his whereabouts, but the officers did not believe him. They scanned videotape provided by the Fox Network, and Catalan could not be identified at the stadium. However, HBO was filming an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm at the game, and in outtake footage, Catalan and his daughter could be seen eating hot dogs 20 minutes before the murder took place. Catalan was released after spending five and a half months in jail.
6.In 1928, 16-year-old Betty Robinson became the first female track medalist when she won gold at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. She became a star and the US was eager to see her compete at the 1932 Olympic Games in LA. However, a plane crash in 1931 put her in a coma. She awoke seven months later and used a wheelchair for the next six months. She spent two years learning how to walk properly again, and then returned to racing. In 1936, she won a gold medal at the 4x100m relay at the Olympic Games in Berlin.
7.On July 16, 2016, at Bellator 158, Michael Page faced off against Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. The fight ended in a knockout, when Page struck Cyborg in the forehead with a flying knee, fracturing his skull. Immediately afterward, Page put on an Ash Ketchum hat from Pokémon and rolled a Pokéball at his fallen opponent.
8.On Nov. 13, 1982, South Korean boxer Kim Duk-koo and Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini fought in Las Vegas. At the beginning of the 14th round, Mancini delivered a left-right combo that caused Duk-koo to fall back and hit his head on the canvas. Duk-koo barely managed to get to his feet when the referee stopped the fight and gave Mancini the win via TKO. Minutes after the bout, Duk-koo collapsed into a coma and died four days later. His mother, who flew to be with him at the hospital, killed herself three months later. Richard Green, the referee of the bout, killed himself on July 3 the following year.
9.On the afternoon of Monday, June 25, 2007, police officers in Fayetteville, Georgia, entered the home of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit on a "welfare check" after he had missed several performances, including a live pay-per-view event on the Sunday night. Police discovered the bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel. WWE canceled its live Monday Night Raw show, and replaced the broadcast with a tribute to Chris Benoit from an empty arena. Police then revealed that the wrestler had killed his wife and son before killing himself. WWE owner Vince McMahon delivered a statement the next night on ECW saying, "Other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit tonight."
10.At the 1994 World Cup, during the first-round game between Colombia and the US, Andres Escobar scored an "own goal" that gave the US a 2–1 victory and sealed Colombia's elimination from the tournament. On the night of July 1, 1994, Escobar was in his car leaving a nightclub in Medellín when he was surrounded by three gunmen and shot 12 times. According to reports, one of the men shouted "GOAL!" as he fired each shot. Escobar died at the hospital.
11.On August 4, 1983, in a game versus the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees right-fielder Dave Winfield threw a ball that killed a seagull. While Winfield said that it was an accident, a Toronto police officer disagreed. Winfield was arrested, taken to an Ontario Provincial Police station, and charged with "causing unnecessary suffering of an animal." He was released after posting a $500 bond. A wildlife pathologist performed an autopsy on the seagull, and found that the bird had prior health issues.
12.The Von Erichs were a popular wrestling family in the Dallas-based WCCW in the early '80s. The family was composed of Fritz Von Erich and his sons Kevin, Kerry, Mike, David, and Chris. While the family enjoyed international success in the wrestling world, they're also known for their tragedies. In 1984, David died in Tokyo due to enteritis. Mike killed himself in 1987. Chris killed himself in 1991. And Kerry, who enjoyed brief success in WWF (now WWE), killed himself in 1993. Fritz died in 1997 due to brain and lung cancer, leaving Kevin as the only surviving member of the Von Erich family.
13.At the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Japanese marathon runner Shizo Kanakuri passed out halfway through the race. The arduous travel conditions, the heat, and the local food caused Kanakuri to lose consciousness and he was tended to by a nearby farming family. The runner, who was embarrassed by his failure, decided to go back to Japan without telling any of the Swedish racing officials, who considered him missing. In 1967, the Swedish National Olympic Committee, upon discovering that Kanakuri was alive and well (and had competed in other marathons), invited him to return to Stockholm to finish the race he never got to complete. Kanakuri accepted the invitation and finished the race with a time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 20.3 seconds.
