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Getbig Main Boards => General Topics => Topic started by: Tre on June 29, 2008, 08:26:06 AM
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http://news.aol.com/health/story/ar/_a/18-suicides-in-national-parks-this-year/20080626143809990002?icid=200100397x1204956741x1200226049
(http://www.aolcdn.com/aolnews_photos/00/03/20080626163909990023)
18 Suicides in National Parks This Year
By MIKE STARK,AP
SALT LAKE CITY (June 25) - Having mailed a farewell letter to his family back in Minnesota, Jerry O. Wolff stepped off a shuttle bus on a sunny Sunday morning and disappeared into Utah's rugged Canyonlands National Park.
"I am gone in a remote wilderness where I can return my body and soul to nature. There is no reason for anyone to look for me, just leave me where I am," he wrote.
No trace of Wolff has been found since he was last seen May 11. Park officials assume the 65-year-old biology professor committed suicide.
Millions of people come to national parks each year to enjoy the splendors of wildlife and natural beauty, but a tiny fraction arrive with a grim agenda.
So far this year, at least 18 people have committed suicide in America's national parks, from the swamplands of the Everglades and the beaches of Cape Cod to the rain-soaked forests of Olympic National Park and the bleak expanse of the Mojave Desert.
For some, the parks are apparently just a convenient place to end it all. Others, though, seem to seek out the beauty and solace of these spots.
"Parks hold a special place in people's hearts," said Al Nash, a spokesman at Yellowstone, where five suicides have been recorded since 1997. "There are some individuals who feel it's important to have that kind of connection in those final moments."
As for Wolff, Jim Hughes, the police chief in his hometown of Sartell, Minn., said the St. Cloud State University professor had been to Canyonlands before for research. As for why he apparently took his life, Wolff had "some personal issues," the chief said. But he said he had no details.
The day after Wolff disappeared, searchers found the body of a 27-year-old man who drove into Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colo., parked on the side of a road, walked about 200 yards away and shot himself.
At the same park last October, a 57-year-old woman drove her station wagon off a 250-foot cliff. A few weeks later, a 63-year-old man drove to an overlook at the park called Cold Shivers Point, sat on a rock outcropping overlooking a valley and shot himself.
"It's become known in this area as a place that suicides are happening, but you can be sure the staff here are doing everything we can to prevent them," said Joan Anzelmo, superintendent of the Colorado National Monument.
Rangers are trained in suicide prevention, and park officials are contemplating closing certain areas at night and adding more guardrails. Employees in places like Grand Canyon are taught to keep an eye out for notes taped to steering wheels.
Ten people have killed themselves at the Grand Canyon since 2004, the most of any park in recent years, according to the Park Service. The 1991 movie "Thelma & Louise" - which ends with the pair driving off a cliff in a classic Thunderbird convertible - has been blamed by some for a string of copycat suicides at the Grand Canyon, even though the scene was actually filmed at a state park in Utah.
"Maybe it's the romanticization of a suicide attempt in a spectacular place," said Michael Ghiglieri, who has co-written books about deaths at the Grand Canyon and Yosemite.
Among the stories he has recounted: A young man once asked a couple to take his picture at Grand Canyon, then jumped to his death in front of them. Another man, who had squandered an inheritance, climbed to the top of Yosemite Falls, wrote his will - leaving money to have a redwood planted on his grave - and then leaped off the falls, the highest in North America.
Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, said that when it comes to suicides in national parks, in general, "the driving force for most is availability and accessibility and, secondarily, whether that site offers something that other sites don't."
At Colorado National Monument, Anzelmo said, suicides there are, in part, a reflection of nearby Mesa County, where the suicide rate is roughly twice the national average.
One of the first recorded suicides in national park history was that of a 27-year-old woman in Yellowstone who apparently killed herself with an overdose of morphine in 1884, just 12 years after the national park was created, according to Yellowstone historian Lee Whittlesey. Most suicides in that park's history were by park employees, he said.
"Perhaps these persons wanted their last moments to be spent in a beautiful or famous place, or perhaps they wanted their deaths somehow inextricably linked to nature," Whittlesey wrote in his book "Death in Yellowstone."
Last year, there were at least 26 suicides or probable suicides in the national park system's 391 units, according to Bill Halainen, who compiles ranger reports daily for the Park Service. The Park Service does not have complete figures for earlier years.
Halainen said he believes the numbers fluctuate from one year to the next, and there is "no clear indication of any sustained upward trend."
This year began with a search for a 46-year-old carpenter with cancer who drove his truck to Everglades National Park, climbed into his canoe and vanished. The most recent case involved a 47-year-old man at Timpanogos Cave National Monument in Utah who called the sheriff's department from the visitors center June 10 and told dispatchers he was going to shoot himself and where his body could be found. The body was discovered 15 minutes later.
When people vanish, Park Service employees and sometimes volunteers typically mount a search. Recovering bodies and vehicles, particularly when they go over a cliff, can require helicopters, rappelling and other dangerous exploits.
"Our expectation is that people are coming to the national parks to have a good time," said Maureen Oltrogge, a spokeswoman at Grand Canyon. "When something tragic happens, it's really difficult on the staff."
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it's not the worst place to end it.
if you were ravaged with cancer and in unending pain, suicide might be an option, even if you swear today you'd never do it.
personally, I'd prefer to lay out on a beautiful beach at sunset and just start eating painkillers until I got sleepy...
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it's not the worst place to end it.
if you were ravaged with cancer and in unending pain, suicide might be an option, even if you swear today you'd never do it.
personally, I'd prefer to lay out on a beautiful beach at sunset and just start eating painkillers until I got sleepy...
dont do it 240!
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dont do it 240!
I'm quite healthy and plan to be an annoying troll on getbig for another 50-60 years first.
Perhaps one day I'll take that sandy sleep. No plans anytime soon, though!
interesting in thise article, though, are the dozens out there which are never reported, never found.
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I'm quite healthy and plan to be an annoying troll on getbig for another 50-60 years first.
Perhaps one day I'll take that sandy sleep. No plans anytime soon, though!
interesting in thise article, though, are the dozens out there which are never reported, never found.
We should do a 'Which GetBiggers Are Most Likely to Commit Suicide?' poll.
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We should do a 'Which GetBiggers Are Most Likely to Commit Suicide?' poll.
Can we include pro bodybuilders in the list?
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worst way to go is stuck in a sewer pipe with your arms pinned to your sides...and u have a cell phone in your pocket which u can feel, but u cant get it out cuz your squished in there
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worst way to go is stuck in a sewer pipe with your arms pinned to your sides...and u have a cell phone in your pocket which u can feel, but u cant get it out cuz your squished in there
If, however, there is sufficient ventilation, then after about a week, the resulting weight loss should allow you to slip free. :)
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If, however, there is sufficient ventilation, then after about a week, the resulting weight loss should allow you to slip free. :)
:o ;D
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whatabout suicides in central park ???
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cancer pain is managed by fentanyl patch sometimes, I would try that before this, apparently it is much more potent than herion.
jt
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suisweet!
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The fan man, the guy who flew into the Bowe holyfield fight in 93 hung himself in some national park in Alaska. Don't know why i know that.
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The fan man, the guy who flew into the Bowe holyfield fight in 93 hung himself in some national park in Alaska. Don't know why i know that.
hahaha that guy just missed uncle when he landed
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http://news.aol.com/health/story/ar/_a/18-suicides-in-national-parks-this-year/20080626143809990002?icid=200100397x1204956741x1200226049
it takes a lonely and pathetic person to relish in the misery and tragedy of others
is there something, Tre?
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it takes a lonely and pathetic person to relish in the misery and tragedy of others
No, it doesn't. Except in cases involving young children, suicide is hardly a 'tragedy', though.
is there something, Tre?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Don't most people want the option of choosing where (not necessarily when) they will die?
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At least they got 1 base jump off, before dying. ;D
I like the guy who wrote a letter to family/friends says: "Now, my body will be returned to nature." something along those lines. ::)
Another guy had a couple take a picture of him, the after they took the picture...he jumped..BANG!! hahaha, hysterical. ;D
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This guy got the best of both worlds...bumped himself off at NIAGARA FALLS and got news coverage!
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This guy got the best of both worlds...bumped himself off at NIAGARA FALLS and got news coverage!
they say many jumpers change their mind right before they hit the ground. Looks like this guy started a little doggy paddle before the end.
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they say many jumpers change their mind right before they hit the ground. Looks like this guy started a little doggy paddle before the end.
I've never heard that before...but for some reason that made me LMAO :-X
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Sweet 3D here
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This guy got the best of both worlds...bumped himself off at NIAGARA FALLS and got news coverage!
hahaha, "Oh my god". What a fag.
I would have said, "Nice move asshole!" hahaha
That would have been the last thing he heard in his life. ;D The newscaster and film crew blew it.
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I've never heard that before...but for some reason that made me LMAO :-X
LOL... some have heart attacks and just fall with a lifeless thud. Others put their arms out as they reality of the hard ground appraching at 600 mph hits them.
My dad saw a lady jump off a bridge onto the highway 20 feet from his car. he says it was like slow-mo. She put her arms out at the last second to stop it, but very quickly landed, then kinda split and bounced at the same time.
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hahaha, "Oh my god". What a fag.
I would have said, "Nice move asshole!" hahaha
That would have been the last thing he heard in his life. ;D The newscaster and film crew blew it.
gayer than squeezing in a last owning on someone before they die ;D
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LOL... some have heart attacks and just fall with a lifeless thud. Others put their arms out as they reality of the hard ground appraching at 600 mph hits them.
My dad saw a lady jump off a bridge onto the highway 20 feet from his car. he says it was like slow-mo. She put her arms out at the last second to stop it, but very quickly landed, then kinda split and bounced at the same time.
Damn 240, sounds like your family has been through a lot man :o
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240 have you ever seen someone stagedive to their death when you've been playing bass guitar
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If, however, there is sufficient ventilation, then after about a week, the resulting weight loss should allow you to slip free. :)
3 days tre thats how long somebody can survive without water (usually)
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This guy got the best of both worlds...bumped himself off at NIAGARA FALLS and got news coverage!
I dont know why, but i laughed so hard at this video ;D
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3 days tre thats how long somebody can survive without water (usually)
you cant survive one day with 6 litres ::)
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240 have you ever seen someone stagedive to their death when you've been playing bass guitar
Nope, we usually play in bars where the stage is only 0 to 2 foot high.
A few places have a grand 4-foot stage, but that isn't the norm.
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Nope, we usually play in bars where the stage is only 0 to 2 foot high.
A few places have a grand 4-foot stage, but that isn't the norm.
i've seen a guy jump straight into a concrete floor. we thought he was dead but he wasnt and was taken to hospital :D
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gayer than squeezing in a last owning on someone before they die ;D
Come on, if I threw in a getbig.com plug in there...classic youtube hit. Keep in mind, this assclown is willingly ending himself. ;)
LOL... some have heart attacks and just fall with a lifeless thud. Others put their arms out as they reality of the hard ground appraching at 600 mph hits them.
My dad saw a lady jump off a bridge onto the highway 20 feet from his car. he says it was like slow-mo. She put her arms out at the last second to stop it, but very quickly landed, then kinda split and bounced at the same time.
Did he take her purse?
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Come on, if I threw in a getbig.com plug in there...classic youtube hit. Keep in mind, this assclown is willingly ending himself. ;)Did he take her purse?
Nah. I think he threw up. He said people were puking all over the place. Some Pennsylvania overpass. The whole road just stopped while everyone waited. It was 20 years ago, so I'm guessing the cops weren't right on it like they are now in the world of cell phones. Probably 20 cars' worth of people just gawking at a dead lady. She left her kids at the top to watch mommy jump, the sick bitch.
I was a dumb kid and kept prodding him for details he didn't want to share. Seems that much blood pressure in the body can cause a person to spray their contents when they hit. Dunno.
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Nah. I think he threw up. He said people were puking all over the place. Some Pennsylvania overpass. The whole road just stopped while everyone waited. It was 20 years ago, so I'm guessing the cops weren't right on it like they are now in the world of cell phones. Probably 20 cars' worth of people just gawking at a dead lady. She left her kids at the top to watch mommy jump, the sick bitch.
I was a dumb kid and kept prodding him for details he didn't want to share. Seems that much blood pressure in the body can cause a person to spray their contents when they hit. Dunno.
Damn, thats some crazy shit.
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Whenever I pass, hopefully its in a weightroom.
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worst way to go is stuck in a sewer pipe with your arms pinned to your sides...and u have a cell phone in your pocket which u can feel, but u cant get it out cuz your squished in there
You should suggest that for the next SAW movie
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Killing yourself in a park = a great thing. The body might decompose faster, it is in its "natural element", and you are nourishing the forest with your remains. More people should do this.
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The bridge trailer
the golden gate bride pwnes all other places on earth for ending your life
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The bridge trailer
the golden gate bride pwnes all other places on earth for ending your life
Ive seen that movie. Its pretty interesting. It talks about the lives of the people jumping, and how their families have been affected. It also shows footage of some of the people jumping. Very interesting movie :)
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This thread is worthless without video.... :-\
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This thread is worthless without video.... :-\
or more personal stories...
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http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesome/interrogate.asp
i cant embed videos, but this is a beauty.
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something about that article irritates the crap out of me.