How Long does it takes to die when a person is hung? Is it Minutes or seconds? And do you Suffer?

Question

Does the height determine how fast you go ?

Answer 1

Being hung does the same internal damage that a guillotine does. Just without the blood and guts and stuff.

When hung properly (taking into consideration the persons weight and the length of the rope), the rope knot breaks the neck and severs the spinal cord. This is the same as disconnecting the head from the rest of the body. (This causes quadriplegia, paralysis below the neck.)

When a neck is broken (along with the spinal cord) the signals that the brain sends to the cardiovascular system (lungs/heart) are not received. This causes the lungs and heart to become paralyzed. This causes the cardiovascular system to shut down preventing the brain from receiving oxygen. At this point, if CPR is applied, the person can remain alive until a heart and lung machine is installed. This is similar to what happened to actor Christopher Reeve (he fell off a horse and landed on his head).

If nothing is done, the brain cells, starved of oxygen, die en masse causing rapid death. Death usually occurs within three minutes.

It should be noted that an experiment took place with the guillotine a couple hundred years ago in France. A scientist was tried and found guilty of treason against France. Before being executed, he told a friend that was present that he would blink his eyes as many times as possible after the blade dropped.

He managed (iirc) 57 before dying a minute later.

Answer 2

According to a recent interview with forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, if done correctly, the rope should instantly cut off the supply of oxygen to the brain. The brain itself only contains enough oxygen to last 10 seconds. So, within 10 seconds the person should go unconcious and feel nothing, however, it could take several minutes to technically die. Dr. Baden stated he felt this type of death was actually less painful and faster than electrocution, the gas chamber, and lethal injection.

Answer 3

It's all in the physics.

They need to get the rope length right and when done properly it should snap the neck. It's a crappy way to go but maybe takes a few seconds. It's easy to screw up and if done wrong, can pull the head off or leave the prisoner to hang and strangle to death over a period of minutes. That's why we stopped doing it.

Answer 4

It takes about 10 minutes to be completely legally dead.
However, the hanged person is usually rendered unconscious almost instantly by the shock of the drop and the pressure on the carotid artery.

An experienced executioner takes the condemned person's weight into consideration as it determines the amount they will have to drop. Too much drop and it will tear the condemned person's head off, not enough drop and they will slowly strangle to death.

Answer 5

when you drop the knot in the rope actually breaks your upper most vertebrae. this stops all pain sensors to the brain and normally knocks the person out cold.

but it takes up to 3 minutes for the brain to die due to lack of oxygen (caused by the rope around the neck) and up to 10 minutes for heart to quit beating.

is it an instant death? no....do the people suffer? normally not....as long as the knot is put behind their left ear it will snap their neck. any other location and the person will struggle and be awake and die of suffication.

Answer 6

it depends on the force of the fall and the amount of pressure the individual could sustain (a heavy person would likely die instantaneously - a light person quite likely would hang there and stuggle for awhile. Quite often, even with public hangings, it would have to be done multiple times before the person died. Fish out of water slowly suffocating and causing additional damage to the windpipe in the process. It's kind of hard to give a definitive answer to that question

Answer 7

There is two possibilities, after the quick stop you might break your neck so it will be instant but you might survive the drop and you will suffocate in about 1 minute i think. You will suffer if you suffocate but i don't think that you suffer if you break your neck.

Answer 8

Seconds...

Answer 9

the neck is supposed to snap. instantly killing the condemned. the knot of the noose should be placed right behind an ear. the length of rope should be right for this to happen.

Answer 10

it's how you tie the rope. if you do it right, it just takes a few seconds. they have to tie the rope correctly or they'll suffer. the rope should just snap your neck in seconds if it's done correctly..