This emotional posting from an FBvian on the wider effect of suicides, and thus, arguably, news-worthiness. A first-person account:
In response to the person who said, “what’s the point? Especially if the jumper didn’t hurt anyone else or cause significant property damage.”
Suicide is NOT a victim-less crime. Forget about the family and friends for a minute…and if you’ve ever had someone close to you choose to take their own life, you KNOW how hard it is on those left behind.
But consider the innocent people that are traumatized by the selfish act of the jumper. I had the misfortune to be driving down Belt Line Road more than 15 years ago when a despondent drunk chose to end his miserable life by stepping directly into oncoming traffic. Even though half a dozen cars around me stopped and gave statements to the police that there was absolutely no way I could have stopped or averted hitting the man, and even though we later found out he had spent all day drinking in a bar 100 yards away, I still have to live with the nightmares and flashbacks of seeing my car nose down in slow motion as I slam on the brakes the moment he enters my headlights…I can’t stop the instant, slow mo replay of him sliding up the hood of my car and crashing sideways into my windshield. I can’t turn off the audio of my girlfriend screaming as the windshield shatters as his body pushes into the cabin of my car, stopping just short of my face when inertia reverses and tosses him back over the hood of my car and onto the pavement with a sickening thud. No one should be subjected to standing over a battered and bleeding body, praying he will keep breathing until the ambulance arrives. After more than 15 years, it still haunts me.
Jumpers ALWAYS hurt someone even if they don’t land on someone else’s property…as do the poor sad souls who park on a railroad crossing or jump off the deep end of the pier or close the garage door and suck on the exhaust. Someone has to clean up after them. Suicide is NOT a victim-less crime.
