Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • deserving of sympathy or contempt?
  • Stoner
    Free Member

    sitting on the train at Reading much like 1,000s of other people wanting to go about their day, but cant go far because of a suicide at Twyford….

    Service now terminating. time to pack and get off.

    FFS!

    trailmonkey
    Full Member

    deserving of treatment because they're/ they were ill

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Folk that want to kill themselves may not be capable of rational thought, or aware of how their actions impact on others.

    Frustrating but what if it was a relative of yours?

    Smee
    Free Member

    You are deserving of contempt for asking such a question.

    racefaceec90
    Full Member

    agree with trailmonkey and cynic-al.

    bent_udder
    Free Member

    It's a side-effect of Care in the Community. I remember as a kid coming across a couple of clearly very distressed people on the way back from school during the first winter that was introduced. Their family / carers could not cope and turned them out on the street for the day to look after themselves.

    A friend of mine killed herself several years ago. The worst thing was knowing that a bunch of us, her friends and colleagues, could have helped but simply didn't – or wouldn't see the signs. So yes, worthy of sympathy, and yes, worthy of contempt that we don't all do more to help stop these things from happening.

    dmiller
    Free Member

    Frustrating but what if it was a relative of yours?

    +1

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    OMG stoner is insensitive yuppie-pwned!!!

    roper
    Free Member

    I remember waiting on a tube platform a few years ago and it was announced that the train was delayed as someone at the station before had jumped. I was amazed at the eye rolling and tutting of people who will be slightly put out by it.

    Stoner is not alone so maybe deserving sympathy.

    retro83
    Free Member

    I always feel sorry for the train drivers when thiS happens.
    How bad must they feel taking someones life, seeing it happen but unable to prevent it 🙁

    juan
    Free Member

    al the day you'll stop wearing lycra I4ll marry you 😉

    And yes stoner, you deserves indeed contempt.

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    I never understand why railway lines and roads have to close for the day because somebody dies. The police must have a theory that if they take enough photos they can bring a person back to life.

    It isn't as if all the measuring will help us to avoid these things in future, we already know what causes accidents and suicides.

    Clear the mess up and get on with it. That's how it used to be about 20 years ago.

    Midnighthour
    Free Member

    Why would anyone feel contempt for someone who is SO unhappy they have been forced to kill themselves? People are so selfish and 'me me me'.

    Rich
    Free Member

    Cant stop giggling at that picture!

    Oh and neither will help, so you choose.

    sofatester
    Free Member

    Clear the mess up and get on with it. That's how it used to be about 20 years ago.

    It is a crime scene so everything needs to be documented. Fortunately the Police’s attitude toward suicide has improved in the last few decades, even if some civilians haven’t.

    Why would anyone feel contempt for someone who is SO unhappy they have been forced to kill themselves? People are so selfish and 'me me me'.

    +1

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    An old pal knew a driver who was driving a train that killed an 8 year old girl.

    Her skull dented the 1" steel on the front of the engine. He never got over it.

    IF a relative/friend of mine did it I wouldn't want it all just "Cleaned up". Understanding and Counselling for all!

    richc
    Free Member

    Sympathy of course, I can imagine getting that lost that it would seem like the only option. Plus Sympathy for the driver of the train, as it must be a horrific experience to hit someone

    Only person I knew who commited suicide was off a bridge into a train, and I think the inquiry determined it was due mental health issues brought on by smoking weed.

    Dobbo
    Full Member

    Her skull dented the 1" steel on the front of the engine.

    I think not.

    Ben_mw
    Full Member

    I worked as a Guard for a while on the trains, and the reactions from train crew who'd been involved in a fatality was amazing in it's variation.
    Sat in the mess room at leeds one day, with about 60 others when a driver walks in and announces to everyone "Yes! £600 and a fortnight off, see you lot later!" – His train had just killed someone, and the payment and time off was just what you got as a minimum – kind of compensation for having to go through it. He duly returned after his holiday and could honestly say it didn't bother him, if someone wants to jump, well he can't do anything about it can he.
    The other end of the scale involved a little lad, 3 or 4 years old I think, who, whilst Dad slept off the lunchtime drink, used his Dad's shortcut to the pub – through the broken (by Dad) fence at the bottom of the garden, and up the railway embankment. Now if you imagine the height of the little kid, and the bits of a train below platform height, not the nice smooth sides above that, you can get some kind of idea what the guard of the train found after they had hit him (Driver is responsible for in front of train, guard is responsible for train and whatever is behind it, therefore anyone who has been hit). The driver was off work for some weeks I beleive, the guard was off for months and when he returned found that he could no longer work on the trains, just found it too painful. By all accounts he was never quite the same, just never got over it.
    From personal experience whilst working a train from manchester one day, travelling about 70 mph, and grubbing about on the floor looking for my lighter or something, i felt the emergency brake go on, and knew that it had to be applied by the driver as we weren't near anything on the lineside that would have triggered it, followed a few seconds later by a sickening thump sound on the side of the train. Having fallen in a heap, by the time I got up we'd rounded a corner from where i'd heard the noise and the driver was franticaly ringing the intercom wanting to know if we'd hit the people he'd seen walking along the track. Long story short and all that, the police found a bloke later in hospital with broken limbs, ribs and a punctured lung who admitted to having been on the line. That 2 or 3 hours before we found out he was alright felt like a lifetime, both me and the driver were convinced we'd killed someone. I am so glad that I didn't find the remains of someone spread over 200m or so of track. (even if he was a plonker for being there, or got what he wanted).

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Dobbo – Member

    Her skull dented the 1" steel on the front of the engine.

    I think not.

    Might have been thinner steel (my poor memory) but I have no reason not to believe it. 80-100mph? Skulls are hard.

    soobalias
    Free Member

    friend of mine chose to end it all in front of a tube train.

    i will excuse her lack of thought for the driver, passengers on the platform and everyone else minorly irritated by her actions – she was proper mental.

    Still I suspect the hardest thing was waking up to find you no longer have use of your arms or legs and that you have massive electrical burns all over. I wouldnt have put money on anyone surviving being actually run over by a tube.

    Now incapable of suicide, she has found love with another quad. Still mental though.

    uplink
    Free Member

    I never understand why railway lines and roads have to close for the day because somebody dies. The police must have a theory that if they take enough photos they can bring a person back to life.

    It isn't as if all the measuring will help us to avoid these things in future, we already know what causes accidents and suicides.

    Clear the mess up and get on with it. That's how it used to be about 20 years ago.

    Who's to say it was suicide?
    People have been pushed in front of trains/over bridges before now
    It's a crime scene with a suspicious death until such time that the coroner's court decides otherwise

    iDave
    Free Member

    quite a few peoples lives have been affected for the rest of their lives by every suicide. so i guess sitting on a train waiting isn't that bad. its the same with motor way crashes – every ambulance tells a tale – it may 'just' be that someone loses full use of their right hand. whatever, its still a life **** up a bit more than it was. its a fine line, a suicidal feeling that wasn't acted on could lead to great things from that life further down the line – not train line of course

    TerryWrist
    Free Member

    Stoner's ill-advised post should evaporate into the ether where it belongs.
    🙄

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    British Transport Police have a 90-minute target for re-opening the line after a fatality, which they meet quite often.

    90 mins isn't a great amount of time to pick up body parts, take some photos and get the coroner and undertaker to do their stuff (esp. As these last 2 are by no means 'emergency services').

    The times when they don't meet 90 mins are when the driver can't say whether the victim was on the line voluntarily (i.e. a suicide) or not. If it gets declared a scene of crime (when there is doubt as to whether it is a suicide or not) then it could be hours before the line is open.

    There's quite a large amount of money being spent on rolling stock to fit them out with forward facing CCTV, so that evidence can be gathered quickly, and the line opened again ASAP. However, potential suicidees appear to have a bad judge of speed/distance and often miss the front of the train, striking the side/top instead. Many times the crew of a train may know nothing about it, all that happens is that body parts are found and the maintenance depot have to do a search for bits trapped in the nooks and crannies of a unit.

    It is a very messy business and I feel compassion for those that have to deal with it.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    Stoner's ill-advised post should evaporate into the ether where it belongs.

    Unlucky: It's still here, and it was a question, not an ill-advised post. Do you feel the urge to censor everything you dont like?

    Personally Im pretty indifferent – afterall the jumper (and it was a jumper not a push) is as annonymous to me as I and 1,000s of other people obviously were to her.

    But I dont see there being anything wrong opening the discussion of just how much balance of sympathy should there be against the affect (minor on many, profound on a few – the driver, the guard, the people standing on the platform next to them) that it has on other people.

    And for the record of course I dont hold the jumper "in contempt". Just a stake in the ground to get the comments rolling.

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    Of all the ways to do yourself in, jumping in front of a train is very public, messy and inconveniences thousands.

    IF the way someone commits suicide is an indication of how they want their death to be received, then jumping infront of a train is as "look at me" as it gets. But I how much this is a secondary consideration, who knows?

    I feel nothing, but I may 'tut'because I won't be reading my kids the story I promised them, rather than thinking that the victim was an idiot.

    sheldona
    Free Member

    At least you got to stalk my missus whilst you were stuck there!

    Stoner
    Free Member

    At least you got to stalk my missus whilst you were stuck there!

    it was your missus was it?
    I'd have words with her if I were you…I was well in there!

    😉

    sheldona
    Free Member

    she said you wouldn't leave her alone and she was thinking of calling security 😉

    BigDummy
    Free Member

    IF the way someone commits suicide is an indication of how they want their death to be received

    Serious question – in a country where the overwhelming majority of people don't have and can't get hold of a gun, is jumping in front of trains simply quite an obvious method of killing yourself quickly and fairly surely, which doesn't need any great research or planning or any special equipment?

    Stoner
    Free Member

    they could have taken the train to beachy head instead?

    As for the "look at me thing", its certainly not quite as conspicuous as leaping in front of the Kings horse or turning yourself into a human molotov cocktail.

    alpin
    Free Member

    my aunt toppe herself in october last year. my mum and another aunt found their little sister hanging from the banister.

    i don't think my mum or any of her sisters (5 left now) will ever get over it. it cuts them up more due to the fact that they could have helped but Debbie never asked.

    suicides are shit. a last ditch resort as far as the suicidee is concerned.

    i was annoyed and angry upon hearing the news, but then a friend said that you should at least respect the persons decision as it is what they wanted. not so sure but it puts a different perspective on it.

    but suicide by it's very nature (excluding those who are literally faced with no alternative; e.g. 9/11 'jumpers') is a selfish act no matter where it takes place.

    even so i used to get pissed off because some inconsiderate jumps infront of a train screwing up their families lives and my day.

Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)

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