STRINGS
Chapter 2

A suicide should be a clean and quiet way to exit this world which means handling all business, paying all debts, proof reading the will and filling the form to donate one’s body to science in the event of an unfortunate demise. The reality though is that individuals use it to run away from their problems, their mistakes… their lives.
The problem I have is the methods they use. A method is made popular primarily based on geographical regions. In sub-Saharan Africa for example, which consists primarily of developing countries (no surprise there) the common method of suicide is poison consumption, taken with the mindset that once ingested the victim sleeps and passes on peacefully, again the reality is much more gruesome with actual death occurring hours after initial ingestion during which time the victim experiences some of the most painful bowel movements in their lifetime coupled with vomiting as the body tries to expel the poison, sudden fever, multiple organ failures and other unpleasant events (...self-defecation).
In many other parts of the world however, this method isn’t as popular. Take Hong Kong for example, the most common method being jumping off a building. This method alone accounted for over half of all successful suicides every year since 2006, the main reason behind this being the abundance of skyscrapers as well as the ease of access to them. It’s important to note however, that just jumping off a building does not guarantee certain death. Many of the deaths were as a result of internal bleeding caused by broken bones piercing organs. The pain is unimaginable (and definitely unbearable) for the average person. An article written by Elisabeth Turk (MD) and Michael Tsokos (MD) on the autopsy of 68 corpses with deaths resulting from falling from a height, comprised of suicides (34), homicides and accidents (34) showed that open fractures and severe head injuries like skull fractures and cranial bleeding were present in 34 cases (50%) (Guess who’s getting a closed casket funeral).
