The Killer Orgasm — People Who Literally Die For Sex
When too much pleasure is not a good thing
Most people would love to have an over the top, never-ending, extreme orgasm. But would you want one if you knew it could kill you?
Charles Majawa, a 35-year-old man from Malawi, lost consciousness after having sex with a sex worker and died soon after. The post mortem officially listed his cause of death as “extreme orgasm.”
I wonder how many death certificates have that listed on it?
Let’s assume that Majawa at least went out with a big smile on his face. If so, is this a good way to die? It would have to be better than drowning, suffering an incurable disease, or being hit by a falling piano. This got me thinking about how often people die during sex. And being the curious guy I am who lives vicariously through the bizarre antics of others, what are the strangest ways to die during sex.
Join me as we take a look at the people who are literally dying for sex.
1. Until death do us part
Let’s ease into this by looking at the most common cause of death during sex — the heart attack. A study by the American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2017 Scientific Sessions found out the 1 in 100 heart attacks in males and 1 in 1000 in females were due to sex.
The chance of both a male and female suffering from a heart attack during sex would be incredibly rare. But such was the case of Sachi Hidaka and his wife, Tomio. The Japanese couple had been married for fourteen years but were too shy to have sex. One night after consuming a bottle of plum wine, they decided to finally do the deed.
Reportedly they both achieved orgasm (nice work, Team Tomio), but the pleasure and shock proved too much, and they both suffered heart attacks. They were only 36, and neither had experienced heart problems previously, but the build-up and excitement proved too much, and they both died.
Heart attacks are the most common cause of sex during death so let’s delve into the truly bizarre.
2. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
Outdoor sex can be fun. Being at one with nature adds an extra element to the activity. But when the wildlife attempts to join in, it can create problems.
Sharia Mawera and her partner were having sex in the bush in the South African town of Kariba. Perhaps their sex noises sounded like an animal, but whatever noise they were making, it attracted a lion's interest. Reportedly the lion snuck on them and let out an almighty roar.
The man fled, but unfortunately, Sharia was unable to escape and was mauled and killed by the lion.
Community announcement:
I also found many cases of people dying due to having sex with animals. I cleared my browser history and decided not to include any of those stories here.
3. Sexlectrocution
Yeah, I invented a word. But it fits so well in the case of Kirsten Taylor, who died by electrocution during a sex game.
When her husband Toby called the police, he initially told them his wife had been shocked by a hairdryer. When police found burn marks on her nipples (an odd place for a hairdryer), Toby confessed to clipping a cord to his wife and plugging it into an electric strip, saying they had been “engaging in electric shock sex” for years.
There was also the case of a 36-year old male who was found dead with a wire cradle applied to his scrotum with another loop of wire inserted into his anus. The wires were connected to two terminals sending voltage to these areas. No prizes for guessing what happened next.
Shocking.
(Both the act and my bad dad joke. Sorry.)
4. Motorboat mishap
The Urban Dictionary defines the motorboat as “the act of pushing one’s face in between two ample breasts, and rocking one’s head side to side very rapidly while making a vigorous, lip-vibrating “brrr” sound.” It does not, however, warn of the dangers of such an act.
Donna Lange of Washington was accused of smothering her boyfriend to death with her breasts. According to witnesses, (yes apparently there were witnesses to the action) she was atop of the man and covered his entire face with her bosom. She was far heavier than her boyfriend, and the weight of her breasts suffocated him.
Perhaps she mistook his ughhhh sounds for a brrrrrr.
Smothered by breast isn't as uncommon as you would think, with several other women being charged for similar acts. One German lady known only as Franziska was charged with “attempted manslaughter with a weapon” for using her 38DD breasts to attempt to kill her boyfriend during sex.
Her boyfriend survived, and Franziska later said to him, “I wanted your death to be as pleasurable as possible.”
How sweet.
5. Pleasure overload
Janet Moyo of Mbongolo Village in South Africa was not enjoying sex with her husband, so she visited a traditional village healer to get an aphrodisiac concoction.
Whatever the healer used, it was certainly powerful but unfortunately too much for Moyo to handle. While on top of her husband, she began making strange sounds before dying suddenly.
Police said she died of “too much sexual pleasure.” Sounds like another case of extreme orgasm to me.
I do think the healer may be onto something if he dials back the power of his concoction.
Added trivia fact:
According to Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, corpses can achieve orgasms. For those who are interested in this strange phenomenon, you can watch her TedTalk on the subject.
She doesn't mention whether the orgasms are extreme, though.
6. The rough octogenarian
65-year-old Texan man Craig Lamell was rushed to hospital. He had been beaten badly and suffered severe head injuries and told police he had been mugged while walking.
Soon after the incident, Lamell died from his injuries. It was only five months later that police found out the truth when they investigated 81-year-old Alan Bischoff, who told them he and Lamell had a sexual relationship and that they engaged in sadomasochistic behavior. The injuries occurred during a rough sex session when Bischoff repeatedly punched Lamell at his request.
To make this story even more perverse, Bischoff admitted to police that he and Lamell were related.
7. Old school porn can kill you
Worse than going out having sex is dying as a result of your sexual addiction — by yourself. There have been plenty of cases of people dying while pleasuring themselves — a common one being autoerotic asphyxiation, which was the cause of death for both actor David Carradine and INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence.
The story below is a little more bizarre.
In Japan, a man known only as Joji hadn’t paid his rent for a few months, so his landlord went to check on him. Upon entering the apartment, he found piles and piles of porn magazines. Assuming the man had left the apartment, the landlord hired cleaners to dispose of the magazines.
The cleaners were disturbed to find that underneath these magazines laid the naked body of Joji. He has been crushed underneath six tons of porn magazines. SIX TONS! That’s a lot of porn magazines.
I mean, if he was environmentally friendly, he could have just used Pornhub and saved all those trees.
8. That hurt my pianist
I have saved the strangest for last.
James ‘Jimmy the Beard’ Ferrozzo, 40, and his girlfriend Theresa Hill worked at the Condor Club in San Fransisco (history fact: it was the first legal topless bar in the USA).
The club's feature was a white baby grand piano that was lowered from the ceiling every night. A dancer would climb onto it through a trap door in the ceiling to make a grand entrance.
On a November night in 1983, Ferrozzo and Hill thought it would be fun to have sex on top of the piano. During their romp, they accidentally triggered the hydraulics that raised the piano and were crushed between the piano and the ceiling.
The next morning a janitor found the pair and called emergency to come and free them. It took the crew several hours, by which time Ferrozzo had died due to asphyxiation. Hill, although traumatized, escaped with minor bruises.
Having read these stories (and more, the internet is a goldmine of absurd sex deaths), it seems that practicing safe sex may mean more than just wearing a condom. It could involve protective equipment, waivers, and an occupational health and safety plan.
I don’t want this article to put anyone off sex; on the contrary, so let’s end on a positive note. Researchers at Washington University found that the more sex someone had, the lower their risk of dying.
So keep having sex — just make sure there are no lions around when you do.