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I just watched someone die

ken

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Originally Posted by Brian SD
One night almost 3 years ago exactly, I was playing a game online with my buddy (a friend of mine since elementary school), and we're having a fun time and I hear a loud bang in the background. Immediately I start typing to him that I heard a gunshot, which was followed only seconds later by cop car sirens. I thought there was some kind of shooting.

When I hear my neighbor's car rolling up to their driveway and they're getting out yelling and being frantic with each other, I pull up to the window of my room and ask my neighbor if they heard the gunshot. My response was, "Brian get your ass down here, your sister was just in a car accident."

My dad's out on a fishing trip with my uncle, my mom trying to sleep, so I grab her and we go down less than a block from our house and on the corner of the street is my neighbor's friends Honda CR-V, laying on its side, and a cop car smashed into a fence a few feet in front of it with it's lights on. The cops at the scene (they were there immediately, the one following the one who hit my neighbor's car (the bastards were both going 90 mph in a 45-zone with their lights off - the reason? a vandalism call) set up a scene and closed the streets right away. They kept telling us my sister was going to a hospital, and they were switching their story like crazy about which hospital she was going to and when we could be there. Still, even after my house was bombarded with "grief counselors" and cops and neighbors, I took their word that she was sitting on a bed getting emergency care, and I didn't believe it for a minute when my remaining sister told me that my 18-year old kid sister didn't make it.

**** life is bullshit sometimes.


Wow, man. I never knew that happened to you. I'm so sorry.

I watched my mom die about 3 years ago. I got the date tattooed on my forearm. That helped a little.
 

CoryB

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Originally Posted by Viktri
I think it's horrible how the company is appealing the $250,000 fine from Work Safe.

That is a seperate case; the situation relates to a death last year.
 

Arethusa

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Originally Posted by Brian SD
One night almost 3 years ago exactly, I was playing a game online with my buddy (a friend of mine since elementary school), and we're having a fun time and I hear a loud bang in the background. Immediately I start typing to him that I heard a gunshot, which was followed only seconds later by cop car sirens. I thought there was some kind of shooting. When I hear my neighbor's car rolling up to their driveway and they're getting out yelling and being frantic with each other, I pull up to the window of my room and ask my neighbor if they heard the gunshot. My response was, "Brian get your ass down here, your sister was just in a car accident." My dad's out on a fishing trip with my uncle, my mom trying to sleep, so I grab her and we go down less than a block from our house and on the corner of the street is my neighbor's friends Honda CR-V, laying on its side, and a cop car smashed into a fence a few feet in front of it with it's lights on. The cops at the scene (they were there immediately, the one following the one who hit my neighbor's car (the bastards were both going 90 mph in a 45-zone with their lights off - the reason? a vandalism call) set up a scene and closed the streets right away. They kept telling us my sister was going to a hospital, and they were switching their story like crazy about which hospital she was going to and when we could be there. Still, even after my house was bombarded with "grief counselors" and cops and neighbors, I took their word that she was sitting on a bed getting emergency care, and I didn't believe it for a minute when my remaining sister told me that my 18-year old kid sister didn't make it. **** life is bullshit sometimes.
****, man. I guess it's long done and you've probably gotten more than enough cloying sympathy from strangers, but I'm really sorry.
 

kwiteaboy

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Suicide is a terrible thing. My grandpa ate one of his shotgun shells one morning in April when I was eight. He did it under a tarp in the backyard for my nana to find when she got up, which she did while on the phone with my mother while I was eating breakfast before school. He left a ****** note, too. That's a horrific thing to do to one's wife of ~50 years.

I went to a lecture featuring one of the top suicidologists and the creator of dialectical behavior therapy (the only therapy clinically shown to be effective in reducing suicidality) and was surprised to hear that clinical trials of suicidality treatments rarely include highly suicidal patients for insurance reasons. That's like cancer drug trials on people who don't have cancer.

I've never seen someone die personally, but I've come close myself.
 

oldhoss

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In my years of working with horses I've seen some pretty gruesome injuries both horse and people. Most of the time these were preventable to an extent that they were going way too fast for the terrain. This is especially so after a rain and the ground is slippery and unstable.

Horses are not dangerous though if one works with them sensibly. I have two of my own and I've not had too many problems. The odd spills are my fault and i've learned from those mistakes. Through understanding behaviour and the mechanics of motion, many can be prevented. My nearest close call was when I was riding along the road, clear, flat and a wide enough shoulder. This big 18 wheeler comes by and thinks it would be funny to jam the air breaks and scare my horse. Well...the horse reared and we almost fell into the 10 foot deep ditch full of rocks. Sad part is if he would have killed me he would have driven off scot-free. So needless to say i don't ride along the road anymore. I trust my horses but not the drivers.

Remember to live life to the fullest and enjoy every minute you can. You never know when it's done. Also if you feel life is not worth living, suicide is not the answer. There are many many things one can do to make life worth living again. I've been down this road at one time in my life and I bought a one-way bus ticket to Florida and started a new life many miles away. Suicide is never the answer.
 

JetBlast

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Man, Hoff. Seeing death is a terrible thing, especially right after it's happened.

Since we seem to be sharing stories I have a few, the most vivid for me was back in February. This was back when I used to work for the Baltimore City fire department and was training on using the various gauges and lines on the training fire engine. At this time I hadn't graduated yet from the concrete burn building at the training academy, so I wasn't assigned to burns on abandoned structures, something many fire departments across the country do.

The house we were going to burn was an old rowhome, as the captains set the fires inside all the trainees sat outside and were briefed. As the fires began to start rolling the firefighters made their go through the front door and began attacking it. I was out by the truck when about 10 minutes or so later a mayday call came over the radio for a cadet down, so the trained firefighters suited up, went in, and put out the fire. A few minutes later an ambulance came screaming down the street and the medics ran in, so we knew something was up but we weren't being told. Eventually a stretcher with a sheet over it was brought out and we could see the sleeve of the cadet's turnout gear, we knew it was one of the trainees. Everyone took great care with her, she was unconscious. She was taken to the hospital where she died with our lieutenant and captain at her side.

Rachael Wilson was 29 years old, leaves behind 2 children. There's nothing like attending a funeral for one of your own and having the see the pain on everyone's face as the casket is placed on the firetruck. Never want to do it again.

"She has answered her last alarm, may she rest in peace for all eternity. Brothers in arms."

JB
 

oldhoss

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I have a great respect for both fire and police men and women. Those who risk their lives not only ON the job but even just TRAINING for it.

It's scary at times wondering if they'll even make it home sometimes. A have a friend who is no a retired Fire Dept Captain and he has quite the stories to tell. Some for good reason he won't i'm sure.

My heart goes out to her and all others.

Hoss
 

amerikajinda

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Originally Posted by JetBlast
Man, Hoff. Seeing death is a terrible thing, especially right after it's happened. Since we seem to be sharing stories I have a few, the most vivid for me was back in February. This was back when I used to work for the Baltimore City fire department and was training on using the various gauges and lines on the training fire engine. At this time I hadn't graduated yet from the concrete burn building at the training academy, so I wasn't assigned to burns on abandoned structures, something many fire departments across the country do. The house we were going to burn was an old rowhome, as the captains set the fires inside all the trainees sat outside and were briefed. As the fires began to start rolling the firefighters made their go through the front door and began attacking it. I was out by the truck when about 10 minutes or so later a mayday call came over the radio for a cadet down, so the trained firefighters suited up, went in, and put out the fire. A few minutes later an ambulance came screaming down the street and the medics ran in, so we knew something was up but we weren't being told. Eventually a stretcher with a sheet over it was brought out and we could see the sleeve of the cadet's turnout gear, we knew it was one of the trainees. Everyone took great care with her, she was unconscious. She was taken to the hospital where she died with our lieutenant and captain at her side. Rachael Wilson was 29 years old, leaves behind 2 children. There's nothing like attending a funeral for one of your own and having the see the pain on everyone's face as the casket is placed on the firetruck. Never want to do it again. "She has answered her last alarm, may she rest in peace for all eternity. Brothers in arms." JB
I'm sorry you went through this, JB... my condolences. Did you know her well? Here's a discussion and article I found about her death. May she rest in peace. http://www.baltimoresun2.com/talk/sh....php?p=2506061 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...l_tab01_layout
 

oldhoss

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Regarding the discussion link....

We could argue all the points to exhaustion but none of that will null the fact that she died trying to be an asset to society. That is a damn fuckin lot more than I've seen many other people do in this world. Could things have been done differently? You bet! The bottom line is she still put her life on the line trying to be an asset to society and she has my respect for that. I'm sure she was aware of the risks.

Hoss
 

JetBlast

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I have a great respect for both fire and police men and women. Those who risk their lives not only ON the job but even just TRAINING for it.

It's scary at times wondering if they'll even make it home sometimes. A have a friend who is no a retired Fire Dept Captain and he has quite the stories to tell. Some for good reason he won't i'm sure.
Kudos on his retirement. I have a few other stories that I like to keep to myself too. Our job doesn't consist of what we want to see all the time, rather, what other civilians don't want to see. We try to make it right; service before self.

Did you know her well?
Not as well as I would have liked, she was a great lady, always a nice person to everyone. In the end it doesn't matter much if I knew her or not; the department is a big family.

Could things have been done differently? You bet!
No doubt. The higher-ups in the department did a lot of screwing around and someone got killed because of it.

JB
 

globetrotter

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Originally Posted by JLibourel
Stands to reason. A good friend of mine shot himself, and a mutual friend shot himself about six weeks later.

About a half-dozen friends of mine have "eaten the gun." Several other people I have know have killed themselves in different manners like jumping off a train. My first wife died of injuries sustained in an explosion. She most probably died because she turned on the gas in a histrionic suicide attempt--she had threatened her boyfriend that she was going to commit suicide the night before--but she probably forgot about the pilot light and...KA-BOOM! She lingered, horribly mutilated and burned, for the better part of two weeks before taking the Long Trail. This was a couple of months after we had ended our short-lived marriage. That was a rough season!




a friend of mine, about 20 years ago. was living on a small co-ed military base. a good friend of his, a girl, asked him to help her refamiliarize herself with the uzi, so he spent an afternoon with her on it. that night, she opened the door of her room, which was across from his room, sat on the floor oposite the door, stuck the barrel of an uzi in her mouth and fired. he woke up to the gunfire, rolled out of bed, opened his door and the first thing he saw was her.

I don't even think that she was trying to hurt him, sepcifically. she was jst clueless as to what the effect on him would be.
 

LabelKing

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Originally Posted by Nantucket Red
Suicides are like that. They are by definition too preoccupied with their own problems to consider how their suicide will affect others.
When you're dead, you're dead. That's it.
 

gdl203

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Originally Posted by LabelKing
When you're dead, you're dead. That's it.
Deep stuff
 

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