Why  Young People Take Dangerous Selfies

By Gavin Mackintosh

They obviously believe it shows them to have some form of high prowess in averting the danger, but as the evidence of several fatalities over the years show, their judgement is poor.

 On Thursday, news that Toni Kelly from Newzealand tragically died after attempting to take a selfie from a window was heart breaking.

 Kelly fell out of a second storey window whilst attempting to take a selfie. Her organs have been donated to hospital to save hospital patients in the UK.

Her parents and sister, Stacey Kelly, flew to London from Melbourne, after hearing the news.   Stacey Kelly thanked hundreds of friends and relatives who have pledged almost £20,000 through a fundraising page to pay for Ms Kelly’s repatriation.

Friends and family have been raising money to bring her home and have set up a just giving page to this end.The givealittle.co.nz page was set up to help cover the costs of transporting her body back to New Zealand. Kelly died on November 14th in what police has described to the eye of media.com  as ”none suspicious” circumstances.  A report is being prepared for the coroner which will detail the circumstances of her death. A spokesperson from the Metropolitan police told the eye of media.com that the news broke out in the UK late because of the none suspicious nature of the death. Police decide which fatal incidences from the thousands they come across daily,  call for press release.

A statement from police read:  ”Police were informed at 16:14hrs on 14 November that a woman was in a critical condition after falling from a building in Ashvale Road, SW17, on Sunday, 12 November. The 20-year-old woman died on Tuesday 14 November”.Her next of kin have been informed. The death is being treated as non-suspicious. A file is being prepared for the coroner”.

It seems very strange that anybody would take a selfie from a window on a second storey building. It is a certainly a stupid thing to. Cops refused to clarify whether Kelly was drunk or on any substances , saying ” it is not our job to test victims for drugs, our investigation ultimately culminates in a report that is presented to the coroner”

Police interviewed all who were present on the fateful night when Kelly died taking a selfie. They have concluded Kelly’s death to effectively have been the consequence of misadventure. A curious question is how we can ever know for sure that she wasn’t pushed, after all, all it takes is for a slight of hand to push someone sitting on the edge of a window.

Selfies in dangerous positions are not advisable, and this is not the first time people have died taking dangerous selfies. Caution is too often thrown to the wind when young people become preoccupied with their looks, forgetting the huge risk to life for the sake of our natural vanity. In a sad twist of fate, Toni had written: “Might as well be Peter Pan cause I’m never gonna grow up,” on her Instagram bio.

Paige Hourigan, Toni’s primary school friend, told Daily Mail Australia how she was “the girl who was always smiling” and “the most fun to be around”.

In May 2015, a Romanian teenager burst into flames after accidentally touching a live wire while attempting to take the “ultimate selfie” on the roof of a train.

Four years earlier in October, 2011, three teenagers (two sisters and a friend) were killed by a train while posing for a selfie, which is just visible in the final picture they posted to Facebook along with the caption “Standing right by a train ahaha this is awesome!!!!”. Moments later, they were not feeling awesome, as their lives were snuffed away by an act of stupidity. In March, 2014, a  21-year-old Spanish man died from electrocution after climbing on top of a train to take a selfie with friends and touching a wire that (contrary to the assumptions of the group) turned out to be live. One of the friends was hospitalized in serious condition. There are likely to be other examples of individuals who have died taking selfies.

Kelly’s death is very sad, especially if the reports of how she died are accurate. She was a beautiful looking girl who would have had plenty of alternative spots from which to take a selfie. The choice of a window was a abd one, one other youngsters must learn from.

People must learn from mistakes others make, without having to make the same mistakes themselves. This beautiful young girl has now left an entire family in sorrow. She had only recently moved to England from Australia, the world must have been at her feet for one so gorgeous.

Paige Hourigan, Toni’s primary school friend, told Daily Mail Australia how she was “the girl who was always smiling” and “the most fun to be around”.