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James' hallucination
"I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", Way to Die #992, is the fifth death to be featured in "Death – The Gift That Lasts Forever", which aired on August 22, 2011.
Plot
A man named James suffers from fatal familial insomnia. One night, he decides to take a drive in order to clear his head, but accidentally hits and kills a pedestrian crossing the street since he can't focus well due to his very bad fatigue. James continues to drive until he gets back home and washes away all the blood from his car. James' guilty conscience only makes his insomnia worse. Instead of turning to the police, he checks into a sleep clinic. Unable to sleep due to hallucinations of his victim's face, he lies awake without sleep for two months and dies from a massive stroke and a heart attack, thus sending him to Hell, and after he died, the doctor comes by and asks him if he can hear him.
Cast and Interviewees
- Denny Zartman - James (lead: intended victim)
- Dr. Stuart Menn - Himself (Sleep Doctor)
Trivia
- In reality, the record for going without sleep is 11 days and 24 minutes.
- In 1991 after his 40th birthday, Michael Corke, a Chicago music teacher, started having trouble sleeping. In the following weeks, insomnia worsened and his health deteriorated rapidly. Finally, he couldn't sleep at all. The doctors were puzzled, but could do nothing for him. Michael was physically and mentally exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to be able to fall asleep. But his brain did not allow it. Video footage of him appearing at a school orchestra concert revealed a frail old man - a far cry from the fit and healthy person he was just a few months earlier. Finally, he was admitted to the hospital and doctors diagnosed him with a very rare genetic disorder discovered just seven years earlier: Familial Lethal Insomnia (ILF). Michael Corke died in hospital after six months from complete lack of sleep.
- This death takes place exactly 9 years before the episode it is featured in premiered.
Segment Nicknames
- Laid To Rest