We've all seen it in movies. A villian suffocates one of his/her victims with a pillow while they sleep, killing them in a matter if a minute or so.
Whenever I've pushed my head into a pillow as far as it will go, I can still breathe. I even asked one of my friends to pretend to smother me (very realistically) and I could still breathe through the pillow.
Is this form of suffocation a myth?
In Belgium there is a well known and documented case (I think it even included video footage) of an asylum seeker which died this way during her expulsion, so I guess there is at least some truth to it. Definitely also depend on other factors as the type of pillow and the force applied. Read about the case here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semira_Adamu
Yes,
A young mother has been arrested after her four-year-old son was suffocated to death with a pillow in a domestic tragedy
Reeves died as a result of asphyxia from being smothered with a pillow.
