Nobody knows how they will react in those fragile last moments.
But photographs captured by those just moments from death provide a record of the most universal of fears.
A journalist’s decision to preserve the dignity of a child trapped in a volcanic mudslide offers a precious, human bent to the story of a forgotten natural disaster overseas.
Video of a young tourist swept away by a huge wave carries a warning that tragedy can strike when most unexpected.
And the final selfies of a mother and her daughter sharing a Saturday together after welcoming a new life into the world offer a poignant reminder of those left behind.
Child trapped in volcanic mudslide’s haunting last words
On November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted in Colombia, killing some 70 per cent of the population of the town of Armero.
Among them was 13-year-old Omayra Sánchez Garzón.
She became one of the most famous victims of the tragedy after a harrowing video of the girl with eyes so bloodshot they had turned black circulated.
Omayra’s father and aunt were killed after a ‘lahar’ mudflow of lava and ice struck their house.
The child became trapped under a door and spent three days half buried in water, helpless.
Rescuers assessed that they would not be able to give life-saving care if they were to amputate her legs and free her.
Instead, they tried to make her as comfortable as possible, bringing her a tyre to float on. Others brought sweets and fizzy drinks.
She spoke to journalists and sang in spite of her condition.
But after three days spent in the water, Omayra began to hallucinate, telling bystanders she worried about being late for an exam.
Her hands turned white and her bloodshot eyes black.
Onlookers made a record of the tragedy that engulfed Armero as Omayra uttered her last words: ‘Mommy, I love you so much, daddy I love you, brother I love you.’
The photo of Omayra won the World Press Photo of the Year in 1986. Photographer Frank Fournier said he hounded by people slating him for not doing more to save Omayra.
Years later he told the BBC it was ‘impossible’ for him to act.
‘I felt that the only thing I could do was to report properly on the courage and the suffering and the dignity of the little girl and hope that it would mobilise people to help the ones that had been rescued and had been saved,’ he said in 2005.
Photographer Frank Fournier said he hoped to ‘report properly on the courage and the suffering and the dignity of the little girl’ trapped in the rubble of her home
Omayra Sánchez Garzón spent three days trapped in the water after the mudslide
Chinese daredevil falls from 62-storey building days before he was due to ask permission for marriage
Wu Yongning was doing pull-ups at the top of the Huayuan International Centre in Changsha, the capital of Huan Province, when he lost his grip and fell.
The 26-year-old daredevil had picked up a reputation as ‘China’s first rooftopper’, a lucrative online opportunity that he hoped would help pay for his wedding.
Wu’s girlfriend, who refers to herself as Jin Jin, told the Beijing News that he was due to ask her parents’ permission to marry her two days after the stunt.
Jin Jin told the newspaper that he planned to bring her family a bridal gift of 80,000 yuan (£9,000), roughly the same amount he was due to earn from the video.
Wu had scaled the 62-storey skyscraper and set up a camera to record his climb on November 8, 2017.
The camera also captured the harrowing moment his grip weakened and he let go.
Wu fell 45ft onto a terrace below, where his body was later found by a window cleaner.
His death was confirmed by family members on December 8 after fans became concerned that no videos had been posted to his social media account for a month.
On live-streaming video site ‘Volcano’, Wu had one million followers and 300 videos.
He held 217 live-streaming sessions and was paid around 55,000 yuan (£6,000) for doing so. Viewers paid him with virtual currency if they liked the videos.
Horrific footage showed the moment the daredevil lost his grip while filming the climb
The former actor earned money from his climbs that he hoped would help fund his wedding
Tragedy as packed hot air balloon collides with power line
On July 30, 2016, 16 people were killed in a hot air balloon crash in Texas.
Paige Brabson, who just gave birth to her first child, was among the victims.
She had bought tickets to the ride as a Mother’s Day present for Lorilee Brabson, recording the moment in a series of photos on the ground and above the clouds.
The balloon took off as normal around 7.05am that Saturday morning.
Fellow passenger Matt Rowan captured an image of the view from inside the balloon at 7:29am.
But within just 13 minutes, the 15 passengers and pilot would be brought down as the balloon hit a power line.
Witnesses reported at the time that the balloon had caught fire before it plummeted to the ground.
Authorities found the basket about three quarters of a mile from the balloon itself.
Britney Reeves Hedin later wrote a touching tribute on Facebook remembering Lorilee Brabson as an ‘excellent example of loving kindness to all.’
She also added: ‘My heart is completely broken for their family. Her daughter has a very young little girl and life was just starting for them.’
Matt Rowan’s Iraq war veteran brother Joshua, an Iraq veteran, told NBC: ‘They’re going to be incredibly missed. They made a difference in so many people’s lives.’
Fellow passengers Brian and Tressie Neill, of San Antonio left behind two daughters, then aged 20 and 16.
Tressie Neill shared an image on Facebook as they prepared to take flight.
‘Up early heading out for the anniversary surprise Brian’s had planned for months! I’m super excited! and sleepy’, she wrote.
Paige and Lorilee Brabson pose for a selfie before the fateful flight
Paige had bought tickets to the ride as a Mother’s Day present for Lorilee Brabson, recording the moment in a series of photos on the ground and above the clouds.
Newlywed Matt Rowan shared his final images with his wife from inside the balloon to a Facebook group at 7.29am on Saturday just 13 minutes before the balloon struck power lines
Tourist swept away by sudden wave on popular beach
Rony Josua Simanjuntak joined 15 friends in an outing to the beach in October last year.
The 21-year-old was posing for photos with his friends on the rocks at Indonesia’s Kedung Tumpang Beach in East Java when the sea became agitated.
The young man was standing on wet rocks with several friends when a huge wave crashed into boulders around him, sending whitewater rushing inwards.
There was nothing his friends could do as Rony was swept away and dragged into the foaming waters.
Dramatic footage shows the youth initially smiling with his arms outstretched before he was knocked off the jagged rocks jutting out of the coast.
Three rescue squads returned from searches each afternoon without news.
One team scoured the sea on rubber boats deployed from Sine Beach, five miles west of Kedung Tumpang Beach, while two other groups searched along the cliffs where Rony disappeared.
It was five days before a fisherman found Rony’s corpse face down in the water, approximately 14 miles from where he went into the sea.
Police issued a warning to young people and tourists flocking to Java’s photo-perfect beaches during the search.
‘We are aware that young people and tourists like to visit this area to take pictures.
‘But we advise them now to stay away or to avoid going close to the water. It is very dangerous.’
The moment before tragedy struck: Rony is pictured with friends looking out to sea
The group were standing on the jagged rocks when a huge wave swept Rony away
Man dies after livestreaming himself eating poisonous bugs and geckos
A 35-year-old man was found without vital signs in his flat in Hefei, China in July 2019, arousing suspicion.
‘Sun’, who was identified only by his surname, had only recently live-streamed himself eating poisonous centipedes and geckos alive.
The streamer had been filming himself drinking large amounts of alcohol and eating various live creatures for his 15,000 followers, local media reported at the time.
To gain more followers, he would spin a wheel marked with items including centipedes, geckos, mealworms, vinegar, eggs, beer and baijiu – a clear distilled liquor.
The pointer would land on a tile denoting something to eat or drink, and Sun would comply.
Police said they found the man unconscious in his room and without vital signs on Saturday, July 20.
His last live-stream session was the Thursday just gone, at 7:53pm. The computer was still set to stream.
Sun was a popular streamer on DouYu, one of China’s largest platforms.
Local media reported that he would live stream sessions every night.
Police said they found the so-called ‘food items’ used in his sessions on the desk in his room.
Sun had been filming himself drinking large amounts of alcohol and eating centipedes, geckos and mealworms. To gain more followers, he would spin a wheel (above) marked with the items
File photo. To gain more followers, he would spin a wheel marked with items including centipedes, geckos, mealworms, vinegar, eggs, beer and baijiu – a clear distilled liquor
Police said they found the man unconscious in his room and without vital signs. His computer was in live-stream mode
Car passenger inadvertently live-streams her own death on Facebook
Nikol Barabasova was livestreaming when the car smashed into a barrier and rolled.
The 22-year-old filmed herself laughing and joking with her friend in the driving seat as they travelled along a road in Obrnice in Czechia.
At one point she looked nervously at the road before looking back at the camera.
Barabasova let out a scream as the vehicle suddenly slammed into a barrier, reportedly travelled 120kph (74.5mph).
The vehicle shuddered, flipped over and went quiet.
The camera, left running, ended up focusing on one of the car’s seat belts.
Contemporary reports said emergency services stopped the live stream when they arrived about 20 minutes later.
A man could be heard later in the stream asking if the women were alright.
The driver was said to be in intensive care in hospital having suffered serious head injuries.
Local reports said Barabasova was killed in the accident.
The women were filmed smiling in the car while speeding down the road in Czechia
Barabasova let out a scream as the vehicle suddenly slammed into a barrier
The camera, left running, ended up focusing on one of the car’s seat belts
Tourist’s last photograph before falling off cliff
Ankit, 20, was ‘mucking around’ with friends at the top of a cliff in Western Australia when he fell and died in May 2018.
The young student from India had ventured out to The Gap in Albany when he went over the designated path and viewing platform.
Witnesses said he had been ‘very careful’ and only walked around the platform to take a picture before he slipped.
Ankit hit several rocks when he fell down the cliff face, before landing on a rock at the base.
Moments later a wave swept him out to sea.
A witness who called emergency services said that she had to stop his friends from jumping in after him and going over the edge.
Rescue crews arrived at about 2.45pm and searched for Ankit who was found floating in the water half an hour later west of The Gap.
Albany Sea Rescue volunteers retrieved his body just before 4pm.
Ankit’s friend Sahil Khenchi, who was with him that day, chose to release one of the last photos taken of the exchange student just moments before his untimely death.
He said he hoped that the harrowing image would send a message to future visitors to be vigilant and not venture out on to the rocks to take photos.
‘It was like his hobby to take pictures in each and every moment,’ Sahil told Channel 7 Perth. ‘It’s like a warning for others.’
A friend travelling with Ankit (pictured) shared one of the final images before the fall
The exchange student went off the designated path at The Gap in Albany in Western Australia
Ankit was with about five friends at The Gap in Albany on Thursday afternoon when he went off the designated path and viewing platform (pictured) which extends 10m from the cliff face
