Letter: I agree with Jeremy Clarkson over rail line suicides
Monday 12th December 2011, 7:38AM GMT.
Although the comments made by Jeremy Clarkson have courted much controversy, I feel I must agree with him in that people who commit suicide by jumping in front of trains are selfish.
Not only does it cause great distress to friends and family but also disruption to the train company and passengers. It can, and does, traumatise the emergency crews who attend the incident.
Even though you may think that they would be accustomed to it, every occurrence must have an effect.
Consider the train driver who can suffer months of trauma and possibly be off work for some time. It is a growing problem with more than 200 people a year choosing this way to kill themselves.
Trevor Mytton,
Shrewsbury
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I agree with JC on this subject ie it disrupts, etc etc etc .
However where I disagree with JC is the word selfish , you do something selfish on purpose after some thought as you clearly only think of oneself, which lets be honest we meet those type every day.
However most people who commit suicide in general(apart from assisted suicide due to terminal illness which is another topic ) they are not in a normal state of mind ie to take your life over what in general seems to be personal or financial issues he/she is in a poor mental state and possibly cant judge if what he is doing is a selfish act or reason that what they are killing themselves over is pretty trivial .
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Merry Christmas Trev!
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Have to agree with Mr Finch. When people commit suicide they’re not completely aware of the impact left behind when they do it! If suicidal people thought about the act disturbing or disrupting others they wouldnt be suicidal in the first place! All they’re thinking is about the way out of the hell theyre mentally feeling and experiencing at that particular time. I wouldn’t say it was a selfish act, yes it’s a nitemare for those left with the after math, but for the one seeking an end it’s a relief.
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Tricky one,
While I agree it does cause disruption to a lot of strangers, is it not possible that this is a choice by the poor soul? Surely, although the train drivers and emergency services suffer the horrific aftermath if someone were to do this in their own home then the effect on loved ones, possibly children would be perhaps even more traumatic…
Suicide is such a terrible issue that there will never be an outcome that could be considered ideal for anyone… and to suggest such a thing is quite inhuman.
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The trauma goes further than the poor train drivers and 999 crews. Someone I worked with did that. Even though none of us were close everyone in the office was so upset. The state of mind is difficult for those of us who have been lucky enough not to have been there. The day before he calmly returned a number of things I had lent him.
Something far worse my dad, whose first career was in the police, told me about… Suicides by driving at headlights. Those poor folk who jump in front of trains don’t intend (in the sense of desire) to take anyone with them.
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