To say that life is full of dangerous surprises is the understatement of the year. No matter who you are, what you're doing, or where you live, tragedy can strike at any time. Sometimes it's just a minor mishap, but other times it can be a matter of life and death. The very nature of chance makes these photos even more haunting. These are people who are just going about their lives, people who have no idea what's about to happen to them. Mere moments away, disaster is lurking...
Is This Guy High?
If you've got acrophobia, or fear of heights, like a lot of us do, chances are just looking at this photo is making you feel a little bit sick. Imagine how he must feel! This daredevil is one of those people they call "urban explorers" - the kids who go around climbing through abandoned subway stations, building sites, and spooky old asylums.
Usually they're doing it without a care in the world, like this guy. Unfortunately, he was one of the ones who took their adventurous spirit a little too far. He and his friends had climbed up to the stop of an unfinished skyscraper in Dubai, and he snapped this selfie just at the top. Only seconds later, he lost his grip on the scaffolding... and plunged to his death after falling over 100 stories.
The Hunter Becomes The Hunted
Us humans like to think of ourselves as being at the top of the food chain. And if eating Big Macs and shark fin soup wasn't enough to prove it, some big men like to go out every now and again and face off with the wildlife, mano a mano and ojo a ojo. The only problem with that is that for all our smart phones and fast food and "intelligence", we really aren't always the apex predator.
Now we've got nothing against hunters, but you've got to admit that there's a sense of irony to this photo. This guy's pretty proud that he's just bagged himself a huge elk, and there's a vicious mountain lion in the background, about to prove who's really king of the jungle. The man survived the attack, fortunately, by doing the most manly, big brave human thing he could do - running away.
Surfing With Sharks
Shark attacks might be slightly sensationalized by the media, but the cold-blooded beasts really do present a significant risk to surfers. Sharks don't necessarily want to chomp down on a salty grommet, but with their wetsuits and silhouette on the water, surfers really do resemble a tasty seal meal. The rise in attacks over the last couple of years, particularly in Australia and South Africa, pretty much prove it. They're not vicious, just hungry.
Even so, it's hard to imagine knowing a 10-foot shark is in the water and still choosing to go out to chase the waves. Because that's exactly what this guy was doing. He knew the shark was there, and he decided to surf up for a closer look. It sounds like a completely stupid idea, but somehow the surfer escaped with his life.
Lurking, Waiting
If you've already spotted the very real danger lurking in this photo, you're doing far better than this lady. She stands there, smiling, completely unaware that one of the most cunning and prehistoric creatures to slither across this planet is sizing her up, consider her for his next meal. What happens next? That, friends, we can't really tell you.
What will tell you is some saltwater crocodile facts, so you can come to your own conclusions. Living primarily in northern Australia and South-East Asia, they are one of the planets most fearsome killers and can grow up to 23 feet in length. They kill their prey by utilizing what is known as a "death roll", clamping down on their body, dragging them into the water, and rolling them over and over until they drown. Several tourists have been killed by crocodiles in the last few years.
Superman
Okay, we know we're going to lose a lot of fans here, but we want to just say one thing: wakeboarding is just about the dumbest sport ever. You're basically just spending your time alternating between wallowing in a filthy lake and being dragged along at hugely dangerous speeds. Behind a boat probably driven by your drunken mate. You couldn't ask for a worse cocktail of soggy boredom and life-threatening terror.
Don't believe us? Think we're wrong? Well, have a look at this picture. Not only is this guy about to land headfirst, at 90 miles per hour, into a brown cesspit or someone's picnic table, but he's probably going to take his friends out with him. They're no better, either. They might survive like this superman wannabe did, but they'll die of embarrassment when they realize their version of the sport makes them look like they're sitting on a high-speed toilet.
Jump Jet
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the inherent risks of flying a plane. Although they no doubt understand it better than anyone! Flying is just one of those things that really is human ingenuity pushed to the limit. No matter how much we improve the technology, there's always going to be catastrophes. Especially when you add a huge crowd into the mix.
Captured at an air show in America, this incredible photo shows just how dangerous it can be. Funnily enough, the crowd thought that the Harrier Jump Jet was just coming in close for the spectacle. Little did they know that the plane was out of control and about to come to a fiery end. Amazingly, the pilot managed to eject just in time, and neither he nor anyone watching were injured.
Crash Landing
This is one of those photos that looks completely fake, but believe us, it's totally real. It comes from the Goodwood Revival in 2000, a race on the old British circuit that features vintage cars driven by ex-professional racers. Nigel Corner was one of those drivers, and the crash that sent both him and his Ferrari Dino flying was one that he'll never forget.
This astounding feat of capturing this photo (it was taken by a man named Jeff Bloxam) was matched by the narrow escape of Corner. Although he broke 20 bones and his back and punctured both lungs, he survived, recovered, and even managed to race the very next year. The reason he survived, in fact, was that he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and so cleared the car before it rolled.
Tina Watson
The death of Tina Watson while on her honeymoon in Australia is so full of twists and turns that it's even been made into a movie. 11 days earlier she and her husband Gabe had wed, and as Gabe was supposedly a rescue diver they had decided to go on a scuba diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef to celebrate. Two minutes into their first dive, Tina lost consciousness, sank 100 feet, and drowned.
Gabe called for help, but at that point it was too late. Over the next few days, suspicion rose as he gave 16 differing accounts of what happened that fateful day, and an eyewitness claimed to see the husband and wife locked in a "bear hug" before she sank. Not only that, but this chilling photograph was taken of her accidentally, abandoned on the sea floor. We'll never know what actually happened that fateful day.
Going Overboard
Sometimes you see container ships sailing out at sea and you just think to yourself "how on earth do they not fall over?" Well, the answer is a combination careful loading, and weight distribution, good navigation, and, well, having a giant boat. As a matter of fact, losing a container or two isn't such an uncommon thing in rough weather, but the risk is well worth the extra profit.
On the other hand, though, there are times when you just bite off way more than you can chew. This boat has done just that. The sea's not even rough, but they've loaded the containers way too high (and badly), and have managed to scrape a semi-submerged reef. The result? Complete disaster, and no doubt a bunch of very angry importers.
Showing Off
Give a BMX to a young kid and you just know that within a day or two there's going to be some broken bones and a lot of tears. Children just love showing off, even when (or especially when) there's a risk of injury involved. You just know that when his mom saw him gearing up for this big jump she was already calculating the medical bills.
Didn't stop her from the shock of her life when he actually attempted it. While his sister actually looks a little bit impressed, she's just waiting for the sickening splash and some wailing and flailing in the water. Which is pretty much exactly what happened. The kid survived, but we can bet that he didn't get a replacement bike next Christmas.
Titanic Fail
Back before selfies were invented, people had to get their photographical kicks in other ways. The most popular thing at the time - hell, people still do it - was recreating that infamous scene from Titanic. One of the most popular films ever created, the 1997 blockbuster had Leonardo DiCaprio holding up Kate Winslet as she stretched her arms out to the Atlantic Ocean.
In the film, it was a stirring and poignant moment. In real life, pretty much everyone manages to make it both incredibly embarrassing and surprisingly dangerous, every time. These guys had the right idea - well, at least they were still in sight of land - but then a seagull came and really messed it all up. There's no second take for this one, and we're quite ok with that.
TransAsia Airways Flight 235
Operating with a 10-month-old aircraft and favorable weather conditions, the doomed voyage of TransAsia Airways Flight 235 still remains a mystery. It was meant to be only a short domestic hop in Taiwan, but within minutes of taking off, the pilots issued a mayday, inexplicably shut down one engine, and crashed into the Keelung River.
One of the most famous air crash photos of all time, the origin of this snapshot is equally a mystery. At this point, the plane was seconds away from clipping a taxi and viaduct with its wings before coming down into the river. What was even more incredible is that of the 53 passengers and five crew on board, 15 people survived. This is a very shocking story to say the least.
Trunk Driving
Elephants kill over 600 hundred people per year. That's right: more than sharks and lions combined. Forget about all that nonsense their PR department puts out, like them being majestic and endangered and all that. They're vicious and bloodthirsty killers, happy to stamp you out of existence without the slightest provocation. They'll put a tusk right through you without a second thought.
Okay, so we might be slightly exaggerating, but that doesn't make the scenario in this photograph any less frightening. It might have come over to the car out of pure curiosity, but what happens when it presses its trunk down with thousands of pounds of force? A couple of flattened passengers in a very thin car, that's what. Somehow, these guys made it out alive.
The Feline Missile
Poise. Focus. A single vision. This cat has got one thing on its mind, and that's to catch and kill whatever it is that's just out frame. He's going so fast that when this outrageous photo was taken, all four paws were in the air at the same time and tucked into its body. You thought cats were lazy? Well, not when there's a potential meal coming their way.
Except this photo only tells half the story. According to the photographer, this seemingly graceful sprint ended the next second with the cat slipping on some wet grass and crashing into a very inelegant pile. And the little bird that it was chasing got away. Basically the whole thing was a cat-astrophe. Get it? Get it? Wait, why are you slowly backing away?
Nose Dive
What a breathtaking photo. You couldn't have asked for a better shot. The timing of the photo is impeccable - captured right before the car hits the water, this is not one moment you can redo if you mess it up. It's a case of right time, right place for this lucky photographer, and the resulting image is like something you'd see in a gallery.
Before you ask: don't worry, there's no-one in the car. If it is a tragedy, it's only for the car which will sadly never drive again after this. You see, this was actually deliberately set up by an artist who wanted to capture this specific image and had the car dropped from above. Why? We'll never know. But who cares when the result is this good, right?
Clearing The Bar
Back in 2012, HBO's crime drama "Luck" was canceled after a third horse was euthanized in a string of grisly accidents. At first they were determined to continue the show, but the RSPCA, PETA, and various other acronyms that protect animal welfare got involved and shut the whole thing down. Now, we'll agree that horses need to be looked after. But this does raise an interesting question: who's looking after the humans that ride them?
On average, something like 100 people die from horse riding each year. Given the risks involved, that's not really a surprising number. It's not as simple as sitting on some docile animal's back and letting it do its thang. Horses can be skittish, unpredictable, and very difficult to handle, even for experts. Just ask this guy how his ride turned out.
Bye Bye Birdie
Let's stop talking about silly humans and their senseless disasters for a second here. What about the animal kingdom? Well, we may not think about it too often (until PETA launches another campaign, that is) but our furry and feathered friends suffer tragedies just as serious and heartbreaking as any two-legged primate. Sometimes, it hits us even harder because they're so defenseless.
In this photo, we see something that nature programs have taught us to expect: two animals fighting over food. So far, so normal. But this amazing blink-and-you'll-miss-it image doesn't capture what happens after the bird catches a swift kick to the chest. Knocked unconscious by the blow, the bird sadly toppled to the side and fell to its death. It seems that nature, like humans, has an infinite capacity for cruelty.
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