When trains & high buildings don't kill
Chris Docker
During 1965 to 1987, forty-five patients were admitted to Hornbæk
Rehabilitation Hospital in Denmark because of spinal injury due to suicide
attempts. 38 of these had jumped from high buildings: six from the first
floor, 13 from the second floor, nine from the third floor, eight from
the fourth floor, and one from the fifth floor. One patient jumped from
the thirteenth floor and still survived, as did a man who jumped from a
bridge 20 metres high and a woman who jumped from a granary 12 metres high.
Of the remainder, two men had run against an armoured glass window, and
one shot himself. The two remaining women had jumped in front of a train.
One patient jumped from the thirteenth floor and still
survived ...
In the UK, 70,000 people a year attempt suicide: only 4,500
actually succeed. Jumping in the Thames is a popular choice, but slightly
more people are either prevented or rescued than actually drown. But the
most popular way of attempting suicide in London is throwing oneself into
the path of "The Tube" - London's Underground railway. Although
attracting two jumpers a week, half the attempted suiciders on the Tube
only succeed in injuring themselves. Removing a person from beneath the
train takes on average half an hour...
References
Thompson H, Last Gasps, Midweek 24 July 1993
Biering-Sørensen, Pedersen W, Giørtz Müller
P, Spinal cord injury due to suicide attempts, Paparplegia 30(1992)139-144:139-144.