to be shocked and disgusted at this?

[AlgebraKnocksItUpANotchBAM]

somebody committed suicide in my local mall today, by jumping off a balcony. he was only 27 :(

while that is obviously awful and shocking and sad, that's not what I'm posting about.

apparently the event was posted on FB within less than five minutes.

and the security guards who obviously rushed to the scene straight away couldn't get to the man. because of the crowds of people filming it on their mobiles.

we were in town a few hours later and people were still milling around taking photos of where he jumped.

FFS. :(

why would people do that?!

yes it does appear there are a few of us.
and a couple more in Horsham.

Im not posh enough to live in M. Im down in the slums of BF

lol - am definitely not posh :o

my DH's kids live in BF, they go to TB school :)

(should probably stop writing initials now!)

shhh just stay with being posh

lol, we are in FG

glitta, imarriedafrog lives in horsham, she is lovely

as does a certain other awesome MNer i know and love.

"But then, people used to go to public hangings etc... maybe it's just instinct to look"

Yes, I think it possibly is something instinctive to do so, and I am sure I am not alone in glancing at a crashed vehicle to see the damage (incidentally, I don't drive, so I'm not one of those motorway drivers who causes a tailback on the 'other' side when there has been a major crash).

When there was a crash on a dual carriageway near my old home, I was just one of dozens who watched while both carriageways were closed so ambulances could go back and forth to the hospital. We were far too far away from the scene to 'see' very much but with the police helicopter circling in a wide and no raffic noise, it was obvious something strange was happening that Sunday morning (from about 02:30). Quite a few were out then and more once there was daylight. I popped out (the helicopter sounds extra noisy at night) - could see lights but no more, came home, and went back after a few hours sleep.

I wonder about the age of the members of the crowd using their mobiles - I suspect 15 to 35 (maybe 40,) because this is perhaps the age group making up the bulk of membership on FB, Twitter, and most would be internet savvy.

I do appreciate there are many older users, but questions of taste might come in more, and it is likely to be the young and single, for whom ego and status among their 'friends' on social networks might cause them to go that extra step and use their mobile in this manner.

Why would anyone do that. I can't imagine ever wanting to take a photo of someone dead or dying and certainly not offering to share it with a friend.
When we lived in Thailand there was great superstition about all sorts. Me and DD were driving along our road and got caught in traffic. A young man had come off his motorbike and wasn't wearing a helmet. He was clearly dead but people were taking pictures of him and his bike. I asked a Thai friend about it, she said they would use the numbers from his plate to play the lottery with.

It's revolting that people would take photos & video - inexcusable.

I am even more revolted at TaintedPaints neighbour - waiting for a dead man's body to come out of his own home, that's just beyond my comprehension. Utterly vile.

Kreecher - wouldn't you think they would avoid the numbers, not use them?

I put a very short version of my OP as my FB status yesterday, and got several replies like the ones on here.

One of my friends posted that if it was suicide he was a 'selfish prick' as others could've got hurt... I don't know. If you're desperate enough to take your own life in such a drastic manner, can you be called selfish?

I'm afraid it's part of the dark side of human nature - the modern day equivalent of kitting while they hang/lose their heads etc.

Oh dear, that's a tricky one...
I do, when I hear about suicides in front of trains etc, think 'how selfish'. You've destroyed your own life and wrecked someone else's, they train driver will probably never stop feeling guilty.
Suicide though, by definition, is a selfish act. You're using your right to take your own life regardless of the pain it will cause your family etc.
Still, you've got to be in a very desperate position and a certain mental state to kill yourself, so I very much doubt that you'd be thinking about things like that.

I do wonder why people choose to do it publicly. Is it important to them that people know they've died and that people witness it? Or is it the method of death, falling, drowning, crushing etc, that determines their choice of location? Do they even consciously choose, or are their minds just totally somewhere else?

What they're doing to themselves is worse than what they might, coincidentally, do to others in the process. I can't even imagine (and don't want to) the mental torment you must be going through to even consider it seriously.

Suicide is the strangest act of a human being, because it goes against our strongest instinct. On that basis, I think it must be such a strong impulse that, at the time, nothing else even registers as important.

I can't help wondering if it's out of anger to do it so publicly.

I took an overdose in my teens, which nearly killed me. I did NOT actually want to die though. I was just utterly desperate that nobody was listening to me. It still took a few more attempts before I was admitted to a psychiatric unit. (I'm totally fine now BTW)

So what I mean is, maybe it's because they've got so desperate that people aren't believing how serious their problems are - and it's like saying "I told you so, and you didn't believe me" :(

This is utterly chilling.

I will never forget the poor girl from Gloucester who hurled herself off a bridge onto a dual carriageway last year, after being bullied. My dd was being bullied herself at the time and I was worried sick. Every time I drove by that bridge I think of that poor girls and her parents.

Someone else jumped off the same bridge last week, and crashed into the windscreen of a car driving down the road. What a hideous death.

People have a macabre side though, don't they. I don't think looking on at death and feeling somehow removed from it is anything new, it's just that in the last 5 years everyone has a portable video camera and somewhere to post the footage. But there have always been rubberneckers.

One thing I will say is that there is speculation that it wasn't actually a suicide, but that he was showing off to his mates doing some sort of 'tightrope' stunt.

Not sure if it's the truth of the matter but it does give a slightly different angle to things.

Perhaps Algebra, I know some people overdose then tell someone, because they need someone to know.
Perhaps suicide in public is a cry for help? Secretly hoping that someone will 'save' you?

Just seen this is the third time this has happened at County Mall.

Perhaps the design of the walkways should now be revised.

they did change the design. one lady fell from the outside, from the carpark and survived

1 fell inside and then they put big perspex sheets along the top of the railings on the higher carpark levels...

i think if someone WANTS to do this then there isn't much you can do to stop them tbh. if it wasn't county mall it would be somewhere else.

If I could actually use the camera on my phone i'd actually be tempted to take photos of the people filming it and put THEM on the internet titled "you should be ashamed of yourself"

But then I have been known to mutter rude things to people who ambulance watch too!!

Its sick that people were filming it.

Suicide by definition is a very selfish act, and though I am not going to say it is always wrong because I know you must be utterly desperate to even contemplate it the effect on those left behind can be tragic.

When I was younger one of my friends from schools father was found hanged. It was the 7yo daughter who found his body :( I think that leaving your body where your family are likely to see it was more selfish than the actual act there.

That is utterly sick and disgusting, how can people do that.

YANBU

This actually happend to me.

I was in a motorbike accident a few years ago. My DH was a very good rider, i was on the back, both in full gear thank god. Some stupid cow pull out in front of a line of traffic we were heading, going just under 30. the bike went into the car obviously, and i was catapulted 12 foot down the road, im a big girl this was quite far

I was out of it for a few minutes, woke up with a crowd of people around me with ther phones out! Cheeky fuckers didnt even put them away when they could see i wasnt dead! But i did hear quite a few comments as i was comming round, 'is she dead?' 'did she move then?' 'no one could survive that?' 'look how shes landed she must have broke her back' I was terrified, my body had gone into shock and i couldnt feel anything from the neck down.

No one helped get the bike off my DH, just stood there gossiping with their phones! and yes, some of our family and friends found out on Myspace (that was a bit bigger than facebook then for my lot) But of ocurse not the whole story so my poor parents were in bits trying to loacte us.

Alls well now though for anyone whos interested

I just always think to myself...would I want people taking photos of me, or even watching, if id had an accident (obviouly the answer is no) so WHY would I do that to someone else?

If I had ANY medical knowledge I would feel obliged to help, if no one else was there I would offer moral support and call an ambulance if needed otherwise I would get the hell out of the emergency services way and mind my own business.

I can help feeling that anyone who hangs about when something like this happens is a bit simple.

wow dubs

I'd been thinking about this issue actually - what if people who posted on FB had friends on there who knew him? it's feasible that would happen. imagine finding out like that :(

BabyDubsEverywhere, that's fucking horrific. Sorry for the swearing, but it is.

This thread has made me really upset - the idea that me or a loved one could have an accident and, really, no one would care, it would be an exceptional thing if people did try to help rather than take pictures like the vultures human beings really are.

What is this world coming to, really.

I was actually thinking along those lines earlier - what if somebody who posted it on FB had FB friends who knew the man? how awful to find out like that.

I do still think it's part of human nature... it's just that some people are incapable of suppressing it.