A child plays dead to escape his mother’s abusive grip; a woman plays dead and likely escapes a serial killer; a student plays dead to escape a gunman in her classroom. Conscious decision or simply the body’s primitive response to danger? On this episode of The Escape Pod, the co-hosts discuss true stories of people who “played possum” - pretending to be dead – to escape horrific situations and how, in these cases, that response was likely their key to survival. 

Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers: 

• Topic #1   6:08 Co-hosts shares story of “freezing” in traumatic situation 

• Topic #2 16:53 10-year-old boy plays dead to escape his mom’s abuse 

• Topic #3 21:12 Shop owner plays dead to escape gunman 

• Topic #4 31:11 11-year-old plays dead to escape school shooter 

• Topic #5 37:55 Escapism, co-host-style! 

Resources & Links 

• https://lawandcrime.com/crime/10-year-old-boy-decided-to-play-dead-after-mom-allegedly-doused-him-with-bleach-and-tried-to-drown-him-in-bathtub-cops/  

• https://people.com/boy-played-dead-survive-alleged-drowning-attempt-mother-police-say-8639764 

• https://www.waaytv.com/news/sheffield-woman-indicted-on-aggravated-child-abuse-charge/article_18a8e744-117a-11ef-8ee2-b7485c7176c7.html  

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-70_killer  

• https://nypost.com/2023/07/16/i-70-serial-killers-lone-survivor-played-dead-to-save-her-life/ 

• https://www.firstalert4.com/2022/02/28/news-4-exclusive-possible-lone-survivor-i-70-serial-killer-speaks-up-after-30-years/  

• https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/27/us/robb-shooting-survivor-miah-cerrillo/index.html  

• https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/uvalde-school-shooting-survivors-miah-cerrillo-khloie-torres-awarded-for-courage/  

Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.  

http://www.escapepod.live 

Want to ask a question, tell us a story or just general feedback? We would love to hear from you! 

• General mail: [email protected]  

• Submit listener stories: [email protected]