Fredrick, the Prince of Wales was the son of George II of England and the father of George III and heir to the British throne. Fredrick was an avid tennis and cricket player. He was also a big time gambler. His relationship with his father was extremely strained, to say the least. He never talked to his father and only communicated with his mother and then only rarely. In October of 1750 while practicing for a cricket match, he was hit in the chest by a ball. He was in bed for several weeks but had seemed to recover by the first of the year in 1751. However, on March 20, 1751 he collapsed and died. The cause of death was found to be a burst abscess in his lung, probably caused by the blow from the cricket ball. At age 44, playing cricket killed Prince Fredrick.
On June 30, 1559, King Henry II of France was celebrating the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth to King Phillip II of Spain by holding a tournament. King Henry was an avid jouster and at age 40 still loved to ride in the list. The day was ending and the King called for one last joust. He bid his captain of the Scottish Guard, Sir Gabriel Montgomery, to be his opponent. Sir Gabriel tried to beg off but the king insisted. As the two knights met in mid field, Montgomery’s lance shattered when it impacted the kings helmet. A splinter entered the visor and pierced the king’s eye and entered his brain. Surgeons removed the splinter and the king was able to speak a little. He forgave Sir Gabriel and directed his men to take him to his bed. Henry II held on until July 10th, 1559. His son Frances II became king. After Henry’s death, Pope Pius IV banned jousting because of Henry’s accident. The ban lasted for over 200 years.
Christopher Reeves was participating in the Commonwealth Dressage and Combined Training Association finals in Culpepper, Virginia. He was aboard his thoroughbred horse “Buck.” Reeves was in fourth place and approached the third jump of the course, a relatively easy “W” shaped jump when Buck refused the jump. Reeves was propelled forward over Buck and the jump with his hands and feet caught in the reins and stirrup. He landed head first on the ground and shattered his first and second vertebrae, which paralyzed him from the neck down. Reeves underwent surgery to join his neck and spine together again. Reeves became an activist for people with spinal injuries and for paraplegic research. He became a hero and inspiration to millions. In October of 2004, Reeves was treated for an infection of a pressure ulcer that was causing sepsis — not an uncommon problem with victims of paralysis. Reeves was given a strong antibiotic and a while later he went into cardiac arrest and died on October 10, 2004 at age 52.
On October 2, 1971 the Detroit Lions were playing a football game against the Chicago Bears in Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Lion wide receiver Chuck Hughes was running back to the Lions huddle after catching a 32 yard pass from quarterback Greg Landry. Hughes had played college football at Texas at El Paso and had been a fourth round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1967. He joined the Lions in the 1970 season and was in his second year with the team. As he was running back to the huddle, Bear linebacker Dick Butkus saw him stop, grab his chest, and fall to the ground. Butkus screamed for the officials and Lions medical personnel to attend Hughes. Butkus said he saw Hughes eyes roll into his head and his face turn a grey/blue color. He had suffered a coronary thrombosis which caused a myocardial infarction that killed him. At age 28, he had undiagnosed arteriosclerosis and a family history of heart disease.
On April 2, 2005 Becky Zerlentes was participating in the Colorado State Boxing Senior Females Championships in Denver Colorado. The 35-year-old Ms. Zerlentes was an ice skater, synchronized swimmer, amateur boxer, and held a black belt in Goshen Jitsu. In 2002 she was a regional Golden Gloves champion. She was also a professor of geography and economics at Front Range Community College in Larimer County, Colorado. She had a PhD in Geography from the University of Illinois. Zelerlentes was fighting Heather Schmitz. Schmitz tagged Zerlentes with a punch to the head. Zelentes fell to the canvas and never regained consciousness. She died of blunt force trauma to the head.
In 1989, 25-year-old Lane Frost was considered to be America’s top rodeo cowboy. Frost was from La Junta, Colorado and had become the PRCA World Championship bull rider at age 24 and had competed in the exhibition rodeo at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games. He was considered one of the United States’ top young professional athletes. On July 30, 1989, Frost was competing in the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in Cheyenne Wyoming. He rode a bull called “Takin’ Care of Business.” He had ridden for the required 8 seconds and had earned 85 points. He jumped off and landed in the dirt. The bull turned its head and hit him in the side with his horn. Although he wasn’t gored, the bull had broken several of Frost’s ribs. Frost got up and tried to run for help. He fell and the broken ribs punctured his heart and lungs, killing him instantly.
Sporting events are often considered to be a flirtation with death. Tragically, as you can see, sometimes that flirtation becomes a rendezvous.