Escalating series of horrors

[snopes]

Comment: Cachi the poodle

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Cachi fell thirteen stories from a balcony
high above the city's streets. He landed on 75 year-old Marta Espina,
killing her instantly.

While crossing the stree, Edith Sola, age 46, was distracted by the sight
of Cachi's fall. She stood, watching, in the middle of the street, was
struck by a bus, and landed at the feet of an unidentified elderly
gentleman. The sight of Sola's body caused him to suffer a fatal heart
attack.

[Pseudo_Croat]

Sounds fishy to me. How in the world could a poodle kill someone by falling on someone, even from 13 stories? Also, how could seeing something horrible cause a person to have a heart attack? I always thought "dying from fright" was an urban legend.

- Pseudo_Croat

[kitap]

Originally Posted by Pseudo_Croat

Sounds fishy to me. How in the world could a poodle kill someone by falling on someone, even from 13 stories?
- Pseudo_Croat

He was armed with a knife, a bayonet, nunchuks and a spiked collar?

[Stoneage Dinosaur]

Originally Posted by Pseudo_Croat

Sounds fishy to me. How in the world could a poodle kill someone by falling on someone, even from 13 stories? Also, how could seeing something horrible cause a person to have a heart attack? I always thought "dying from fright" was an urban legend.

- Pseudo_Croat

Given that a standard poodle weighs 55 - 65 pounds, I think one falling from 13 stories would be enough to kill anyone, let alone a 75 year old woman. As for the elderly gentleman, his heart attack could just be coincidental and nothing to do with what he saw.

[Malruhn]

Even a tiny dog (10 lbs) could very easily kill someone if it fell over 100 feet!

But I have to agree, this sounds just a bit too... coincindental.

[charlie23]

Poodle: 3
Argentina: 0

[Squishy0405]

There is such a condition where someone can be "scared to death", but not in it's literal sense. IIRC from a Montel William's episode, a mother was unfortunate enough to be playing with her son in a "BOO" type manner and he had an undiagnosed abnormal heart palputation and she caught it right in the middle of an irregular beat (milliseconds acutally), thus stopping his heart instantly (and resulting in his death). The descriptopn of the elderly gentlemen's demise doesn't quite match up with this condition...

[Ezri]

You can't be scared to death? Ever? It's not possible at all? My friend and I were discussing this and we concluded that if you could sustain an intense horror for a long enough period of time it would kill you.

For example: When someone jumps out at you from a dark alley or something and shouts "BOO" It scares you for maybe a few seconds, if you could maintain that initial "Boo" fear for a minute or two it would kill you. I'm not saying if it is impossible to do so, but it seems likely that intense horror can kill you, or am I totally wrong?

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Ezri

I'm not saying if it is impossible to do so, but it seems likely that intense horror can kill you, or am I totally wrong?

If that were true, Dharma and Greg would be responsible for thousands of deaths.

- snopes

[geminilee]

I seriously doubt that a healthy person could be scared to death, but stress could trigger a heart attack in someone who has heart problems.