I wouldn’t mind a memorable, albiet moral, death.  It would give everyone something to talk about.  Years after I’m dead, people would ask, “Do you remember Caleb Wilde?”, they’d say, “Oh, yeah, isn’t that the guy that died ….”.  Here are ten people that have been immortalized in the minds of their family, friends and community because of the way they died.

1.  Dead Man Winning

Frank Hayes, stableman and trainer by trade, and maiden racer Sweet Kiss, hold a bizarre distinction in racing history. The pair competed in only one race, and though they won, it was what happened afterwards that puts them in the record books.

7-year-old Sweet Kiss was not well thought-of by her owners. Frank Hayes, who had cared for her, was convinced that she could win a race. On June 4, 1923, he was given his wish, when he and Sweet Kiss lined up for a 2-mile, 12-jump race at Belmont Park. Rated at 20-1 odds they were not expected to do anything special.

Surprisingly, the hard-working filly and her makeshift jockey, riding in just his second career race, won by a head. When the overjoyed owner and trainer approached to lead her to the winner’s circle, they made a shocking discovery: Frank Hayes was dead in the saddle.

A heart attack had killed Hayes sometime during the latter part of the race. It was observed that Sweet Kiss swerved slightly while approaching the final jump, and many surmised that her swerve had been caused by Hayes slumping forward in the saddle. Since he had stayed on her back the entire race, Sweet Kiss was declared the winner, making Hayes the first (and so far, only) jockey to have won a race after death. He is also the only known jockey to have an undefeated record. Hayes was buried in his racing silks three days later.

Via Horse Collaborative 

2.  An Exciting Death

This from Reddit:

3.  Dying From Reading Your Prematurely Published Obituary

Marcus Garvey’s Death Mask

At the end of May 1940, Marcus Garvey was recovering from a stroke in a dingy, draughty rented house in Kensington when word reached him of his own death.

“Marcus Garvey dies in London” announced the first headline, followed by a stream of black-bordered obituaries, many of them critical or dismissive. Garvey was not happy. On the second day, his secretary recalled, as the letters and cables piled up, “he collapsed in his chair, and could hardly be understood after that”. A few days later, he died, a victim of his own premature demise.  Via The Telegraph

4.  Three Million Dollar Threesome

William Martinez died in March of 2009 during a threesome with a woman who was not his wife and a male friend. In June of 2012, a jury granted Martinez’s family $3 million in damages because his cardiologist failed to inform him that overexerting himself was a bad idea. They had previously sought $5 million, but it was determined that he was 40 percent responsible for his own death.

Via Oddee

5.  Hardcore Gamer

A teenager died at an Internet cafe in Taiwan after reportedly playing the videogame “Diablo 3” for 40 hours straight.

The 18-year-old, who has only been identified by his first name, Chuang, had booked a private room at the Tainan cafe in southern Taiwan on the afternoon of July 13,according to the the Australian, which cited the United Daily News broadsheet. Chuang then proceeded to play the videogame for 40 hours straight without eating.

On July 15, an attendant went into the room where Chuang had been playing and found the teen resting on the table, according to the Australian. The attendant was able to wake Chuang, who stood up, took a few steps and then collapsed onto the ground. He was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the hospital.

According to the Mirror, authorities believe the teenager may have suffered a blood clot due to sitting for such a long period of time.

Via The Huffington Post.

6.  Dying at Your Funeral

7.  Dying to Prove a Point

Clement Vallandigham died in 1871 in Lebanon, Ohio, at the age of 50, after accidentally shooting himself in the abdomen with a pistol. He was representing a defendant in a murder case for killing a man in a barroom brawl at the Golden Lamb Inn. Vallandigham attempted to prove the victim, Tom Myers, had in fact accidentally shot himself while drawing his pistol from a pocket while rising from a kneeling position. As Vallandigham conferred with fellow defense attorneys in his hotel room at the Golden Lamb, he showed them how he would demonstrate this to the jury. Selecting a pistol he believed to be unloaded, he put it in his pocket and enacted the events as they might have happened, snagging the loaded gun on his clothing and unintentionally causing it to discharge into his belly. Although he was fatally wounded, Vallandigham’s demonstration proved his point, and the defendant, Thomas McGehan, was acquitted and released from custody (to be shot to death four years later in his saloon).

Via Wikipedia.

8.  Nut Case.

“A Chinese mother has gone on trial accused of killing a man by squeezing his testicles so hard that he died of shock.  According to one witness report as she held him in a vice-like grip she shouted: ‘I’ll squeeze it to death, you’ll never have children again.'”

Via Daily Mail.

9.  Whoops.

© 2007 The Next Web Photos, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio

A British businessman who bought the Segway company less than a year ago died after riding one of the scooters off a cliff and into a river near his Yorkshire estate.  Via NBC News

10.  Self Embalming

This death earned a Darwin Award.  And it’s probably the most ignoble of the bunch; but it’s equally as memorable.

(21 May 2004, Texas) Michael was an alcoholic. And not an ordinary alcoholic, but an alcoholic who liked to take his liquor, well, rectally. His wife said he was “addicted to enemas” and often used alcohol in this manner. The result was the same: inebriation.

The machine shop owner couldn’t imbibe alcohol by mouth due to a painful throat ailment, so he elected to receive his favourite beverage via enema. And tonight, Michael was in for one hell of a party. Two 1.5 litre bottles of sherry, more than 100 fluid ounces, right up the old address!

When the rest of us have had enough, we either stop drinking or pass out.

When Michael had had enough (and subsequently passed out) the alcohol remaining in his rectal cavity continued to be absorbed. The next morning, Michael was dead.

The 58-year-old did a pretty good job of embalming himself. According to toxicology reports, his blood alcohol level was 0.47%.