Can you die from bunion surgery? The answer is yes, you can die from any surgery. But the chances of you dying from bunion surgery are similar to the chances of you dying by getting struck by lightning. The only way you could die during bunion surgery has nothing to do with the surgery. You would have to have a reaction to the anesthesia like Malignant Hyperthermia, and those cases are rare. When that happens it is completely not related to the bunion surgery.
The other possible way to die that people are afraid of is a blood clot. The risk for this is insignificant unless you are a women on birth control and even then the chances are low. Clots that come from the foot in bunion surgery are really not big enough to bring about morbidity. The most likely result from a clot in bunion surgery is that your foot swells up.
The third possible way would be if your bunion got infected and the infection got into your blood. If you have bunion surgery at a hospital or a surgery center, the chances of your infection getting this bad is remote. Even if your bunion does get infected, 99% of bunion surgery infections clear up with antibiotics. What I am trying to say is being afraid of death is not a reason to not have bunion surgery. You are just not going to die from it.