List of people who have died while on the toilet explained

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Numerous individuals have died while using a toilet facility or in the process of defecation or urination. This includes confirmed or suspected historical figures as well as more recent notable cases.

Pre-20th century

data-sort-type="date"DateLocationNameAgeDescriptionSource
data-sort-value="1 January 102"Summer of 581 BCJin, ChinaDuke Jing of JinUnknownDied falling into a toilet pit.[1]
8 April 217 ADBetween Edessa and Carrhae, Roman EmpireCaracalla29Murdered by his soldiers while stopping to urinate, on his way to Edessa[2]
11/12 March 222RomeElagabalus18Murdered by the Praetorian Guard "in a latrine in which he had taken refuge".[3]
data-sort-value="1 January 336"336 ADConstantinople, Eastern Roman EmpireArius80Died from explosive gastrointestinal problems while in a public toilet[4]
30 November 1016Oxford or London, EnglandKing Edmund Ironside of England26Stabbed while defecating in a toilet.[5]
4 November 1035Lysá nad Labem, BohemiaJaromír, Duke of Bohemia60–70Stabbed with a spear from under a toilet seat while defecating.[6]
data-sort-value="26 February 1076"26 or 27 February 1076Vlaardingen, Lower LorraineGodfrey IV, Duke of Lower LorraineUnknownWas assassinated while using a toilet.[7]
19 April 1578Echigo Province, JapanUesugi Kenshin48Allegedly assassinated by a ninja while using a toilet, but very unlikely because his anticipation of his own death is recorded in a death poem. Early sources record his deterioration of health condition, his complaints of pain in the chest "like an iron ball", and as Kenshin Gunki (1582) records "on the 9th day of the 3rd month he had a stomach ache in his toilet. This unfortunately persisted until the 13th day when he died". It is much more likely that he suffered from esophageal cancer.[8] [9]
25 October 1760Kensington Palace, London, England, Great BritainGeorge II of Great Britain76Collapsed shortly after attending to his close stool, possibly died of an aortic aneurysm.[10]
1892Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.J.W., also known as Balloon Man29Suffered from congenital aganglionic megacolon, which brought him considerable fame for his bloated abdomen. He suffered from constipation, and was found dead in a bathroom at the age of 29, apparently having died trying to defecate. His eight foot long colon is currently on display at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia.[11] [12]

20th and 21st centuries

DateLocationNameAgeDescriptionSource
3 August 1966Los Angeles, California, United StatesLenny Bruce40Died from acute morphine poisoning caused by an overdose in the bathroom of his home in Hollywood Hills.[13] [14]
22 June 1969Chelsea, LondonJudy Garland47Overdosed on barbiturates while using a toilet.[15]
24 October 1971Paris, FranceGeorge Dyer38Overdose of alcohol and amphetamine while using a toilet. Portrayed in The Black Triptychs
16 August 1977Memphis, TennesseeElvis Presley42He was found dead on the bathroom floor. The cause of death was cardiac arrest due to alleged drug overdose.[16]
8 March 1989Columbia, South CarolinaMichael Godwin28Initially sentenced to death by electrocution, but later reduced to a life sentence. He was accidentally electrocuted when he bit a pair of earphone wires while sitting on a metal toilet. [17]
19 January 1996Los Angeles, California, United StatesDon Simpson52Died of heart failure caused by combined drug intoxication in the bathroom of his home in Bel Air.[18] [19]
8 March 2004Hollywood Hills, California, United StatesRobert Pastorelli49Overdosed on morphine while on a toilet.[20]
25 June 2011Pilton, Somerset, United KingdomChristopher Shale56Died of a heart attack on a portable toilet while at Glastonbury Festival. [21]
17 May 2013Marcos Paz, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaJorge Rafael Videla87Died of a heart attack while on a jail toilet after slipping in the shower.[22]
10 October 2016Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, GermanyTamme Hanken56Died of sudden heart failure on a hotel toilet.[23]
21 June 2019Doha, QatarToufiq M Seraj63Fell unconscious on an aeroplane toilet en route from Dhaka to Doha, pronounced dead of massive heart attack shortly after landing.[24]
23 November 2021Seoul, Republic of KoreaChun Doo-hwan90Having multiple myeloma, found "fallen down" by a probable heart attack in a toilet at home.[25]

Deaths in fiction

produced several fictional advertisements for comedic value for a device called a "Toilet Death Ejector", in which a toilet would "eject" a person off of a toilet if they died on it so they would not be found dead on the toilet.[30]

See also

References


Notes and References

  1. Web site: ((Zuo Qiuming (translator James Legge))). Book VIII. Duke Cheng. 23 April 2012. Zuo Zhuan. University of Virginia. zh, en. Chapter X.
  2. Web site: Historia Augusta • Life of Caracalla . 2022-09-05 . penelope.uchicago.edu.
  3. Web site: Historia Augusta • The Life of Elagabalus . 2023-06-07 . penelope.uchicago.edu.
  4. Muehlberger. Ellen. 6 May 2015. The Legend of Arius' Death: Imagination, Space and Filth in Late Ancient Historiography. Past & Present. 227. 1. 3–29. 10.1093/pastj/gtu042. free.
  5. Book: Henry of Huntingdon . Historia Anglorum . History of the English People. 2002. 15.
  6. Chronica Baemorum. "Kochan poslal svého kata a když onen slepec seděl na záchodě v hodině noční, vyprazdňoval břich, proklál ho ostrým oštěpem zezadu až do útrob břišních."
  7. Book: Hay, David (2008), The military leadership of Matilda of Canossa, 1046-1115, Manchester University Press, pp. 35, 43–44.
  8. Turnbull, Stephen (2012b). Ninja AD 1460–1650. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781782002567.
  9. [Uesugi Kenshin#CITEREFTurnbull2012a|Turnbull 2012]
  10. Thompson, pp. 289–290; Van der Kiste, p. 213.
  11. Web site: Giant Megacolon . The College of Physicians of Philadelphia . 2022-09-13 . 2023-01-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230110212810/http://memento.muttermuseum.org/detail/giant-megacolon . dead .
  12. Web site: Medical mystery solved: The case of the 'Balloon Man' . M3 USA Corporation.
  13. Book: Collins . Ronald K. L. . The trials of Lenny Bruce : the fall and rise of an American icon . Skover . David M. . Bruce . Lenny . 2002 . Naperville, Ill. : Sourcebooks MediaFusion . Internet Archive . 978-1-57071-986-8.
  14. Web site: 2001-10-15 . Lenny Bruce, Uninhibited Comic, Found Dead in Hollywood Home . . 2024-01-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20011015200417/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1013.html . 2001-10-15 .
  15. citing United Press International article "Judy Took Too Many Pills" and containing a copy of Garland's death certificate.
  16. Web site: Elvis' addiction was the perfect prescription for an early death. 16 August 2018. PBS NewsHour. 13 January 2020.
  17. Web site: 2018-08-27. Convicted Criminal Escaped Electric Chair, Then Electrocuted Himself in his Toilet. 2022-02-19. The Vintage News. en.
  18. News: Pace . Eric . 1996-01-21 . Don Simpson Is Dead at 52; Produced Blockbuster Films . 2024-01-29 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  19. Web site: admin . 2015-03-04 . Don Simpson (Producer) - bizarre sex life? ⋆ Historian Alan Royle . 2024-01-29 . Historian Alan Royle . en.
  20. News: Actor Robert Pastorelli found dead in home. TODAY.com. 2017-10-08. en.
  21. News: PM in Commons tribute to friend. BBC News. 2017-10-08. en-GB.
  22. News: 5 May 2017. Videla, el represor que murió en un inodoro y que lideró a los que podrían pedir el 2x1. es. BigBang! News. 2020-01-13. 2022-07-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20220728145705/https://www.bigbangnews.com/politica/videla-el-represor-que-murio-en-un-inodoro-y-que-lidero-a-los-que-podrian-pedir-el-2x1-2017-5-7-9-0-0. dead.
  23. Web site: 2016-10-11 . Tamme Hanken: Herztod auf Toilette in Garmisch-Partenkirchen . 2024-01-29 . www.merkur.de . de.
  24. Web site: Staff Correspondent. 22 June 2019. Sheltech MD dies on plane. 6 August 2022. The Daily Star. en.
  25. Web site: 이호승. 강수련. 23 November 2021. '끝내 사과 없이' 전두환 사망..'친구' 노태우 떠난 지 28일만(종합2보). 23 August 2022. News 1. ko.
  26. Web site: 'Jurassic Park': Meet 'the guy who died on the toilet'. USA Today. 7 April 2013. Alexander. Bryan. 28 March 2020.
  27. Web site: Game of Thrones Viewer's Guide. viewers-guide.hbo.com. en. 28 October 2017.
  28. Web site: 2013-08-21 . He is Risen (3.08) . 2024-05-12 . Sopranos Autopsy . en.
  29. Web site: South Park: "Reverse Cowgirl". The A.V. Club. 14 March 2012. McGee. Ryan. 28 March 2020.
  30. Web site: SNL has disrupted elder care with this excremental innovation. Berkowitz. Joe. 2019-03-03. Fast Company. en-US. 2020-04-12.
  31. Web site: Murdering Reza Zaydan Marrakesh - Hitman Game Guide . 2024-06-30 . Gamepressure.com . en.