....to not think this of London Bridges

[Noangelbuthavingfun]

It is just awful about the young man trying to save the poor woman who fell into the Thames in London trying to save her life. He is a hero and more needs to be said about this heroic deed! Thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends and all affected.

As I was looking into this story, another story pooped up about the schoolboy who fell in from Tower Bridge last week. Again, tragic and awful for all.

It got me thinking- can you really just 'fall in' from these iconic bridges as is reported? I do not live in London but have been on these bridges before and never paid attention to the safety aspects. Is it possible that something needs to be done to make them safer and you can really just fall in by accident? Or is this really about deeper mental health issues or similar and these incidents would not have been prevented either way ? In which case... why does the media brush over this by saying falling in, when actually we need more support and awareness than ever regarding mental health and support?
What do you think - is it possible an accident like this can happen on these London specific 2 bridges or not ? Genuinely wondering!

You can’t fall in from those two bridges unless you climb onto the wall on the edge of the bridge (which is pretty high).

I read that a handwritten note had been found near where to young boy fell in, which does suggest it wasn’t an accident.

I read the young boy left a suicide note on his Twitter account. I don’t think any of these cases are accidents but they can’t be reported as deliberate until after an inquest. It’s a distressing enough time for their families so agree speculation in the media should be avoided.

I read the story of the missing schoolboy - dreadful - and one reports ended with a tiny ‘whilst searching a woman was pulled from the Thames’ (as if it was a regular occurrence).you can’t just ‘fall in’ - you either have to to deliberately trying to jump or climb over the wall/railing for some other reason.

Every so and often someone drowns in the serpentine - much easier access all around, the bridge has a low wall and people misjudge the depth (it’s quite shallow).

Mind etc provide guidance to the Media, strongly advising against stating whether/how someone killed themselves, as it can encourage copycat suicides. So sometimes it is obvious from reading an article that someone has taken their own life, but it is not explicitly stated.

Very sad, and that gentleman was a true hero.

I’m unsure about the bridges but I do know for a fact our local press has a policy of always saying “man/woman dies after falling from x building” and always refers to someone taking their own life as a fall.

I discovered this after two members of the same family “fell” from the exact same building in the exact same year and it was reported in the local newspaper. On their Facebook pages lots of people were commenting “how can this happen to the same family twice in one year?! What are the odds of that?! Why is this building so dangerous?! It should be closed down!!!” In actual fact both people took their own lives, the second as a direct result of the first and not being able to cope with the grief. A spokesperson from the newspaper explained that, out of respect for the family and to be sensitive, they never say “jumped” or “committed suicide” and it was a fact that the deaths were caused by falling from a great height.

I’d imagine that this is the policy for how deaths or attempts on the bridges are also reported.

They dont say jumped because until the coroner has investigated they cant make that judgement but no you can't fall from the bridge and the papers expect people to read between the lines.

In normal times London Bridge is absolutely rammed with commuters in the morning, crossing in to the city from the station. If it were possible to just fall in, it would happen every day.

You can’t just fall from those bridges. They are often suicides, or sometimes acts of stupidity while drunk, for example, but the media can’t say so at that point - as it’s not legally confirmed.

I used to commute across London Bridge pre-covid, there is no way on earth you can fall over it accidentally - I am really tall and it just isn’t possible. If you were sitting on it messing around you could fall off it but in all reality this isn’t at all likely. Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole was a hero RIP

I believe it's the same as "a person fell under the train", it's not meant to imply it was an accident.

These two cases are both so sad, passers by risked and in one case lost their own lives trying to help

Such a shame for poor Folajimi and his family.

No you definitely can’t just fall in, I’ve seen people sitting on them to get pics and even to me that looks risky mainly because I’m scared of heights but no you can’t just be walking along or standing there and fall in, I guess it’s as others say and they don’t want to say jumped in

Agree with pp but also aware that most (some?) London bridges are not in are good condition and need repair work.

Needing repair work usually means strengthening them to cope with 2021 traffic when they were built in very different times. Not that there are sections of railings missing so people can just fall in.

Right... that makes a lot of sense and confirms what I thought. Thanks to those who confirmed there are media guidance and it cannot state anything other than a fall. How very very sad.... and it's happening more often now.
It does make you wonder why they state jump In front of a train when that happens. All the same, feel so sorry for all the people involved. Rest in peace poor boys

@Namechanged that is just so sad I cannot bear to think of the grief...

Yeah often you have to read it

"Person fell from building. Police aren't treating it a suspicious"

"Body found in woods. Police aren't looking for anyone else involvement"

I wondered that too a bit - I thought it was doubtful that one could 'fall' from the bridge, but then the articles about the school boy sounded odd, saying it was being treated as a 'missing persons' case, but then we weren't being given loads of information like we often are when people go missing or asked to be on the lookout, which would be especially likely when it was a child. And saying that he got off the bus, and in full uniform, made it sound like they knew what had happened, but were still saying it was a missing persons case - and only in the paper 2 or 3 days later, which again was odd for a child who was missing. I'm sorry to hear that he had left notes, and I understand why the press reports it like this.

It does make you wonder why they state jump In front of a train when that happens.

They don’t say that, though. They say “person under a train” or something. They definitely won’t say “jumped”.