Next time you say "harmless prank" remember this: Nurse from Kate hoax dead

I am sorry that she felt the need to kill herself and sorry for her family.

I think what she did was egregious and shameful and should have been exposed - not because of her gullibility with the prank, but because of the violation of medical privacy. I once had my HIPPA rights violated by a medical practitioner with a big mouth. He told my mother parts of my adult medical history that I hadn't wanted to share. Ultimately I didn't sue because 1. a lawsuit against a hospital can be expensive and stressful, 2. it would have caused a rift in my family and 3. the history was not life-ruining, nothing like 'we named a new std after your daughter'. But it was still hurtful to me. Even if the princess is a public figure, she is still entitled to medical privacy from her doctors.

What I'm going to write is probably the most important message I've ever written on LR. This was definitely more than a case of where she was embarrassed by what they did. Rewind all conversations. Before it happened, did the djs know she was mentally unstable? If so, you are looking at them putting her into an extremely upsetting situation. If she was already trying to get treatment and the doctors were trying different meds, she knows she's already at a high risk for suicide because that is the situation for every person trying to find the right medication for a mental disorder. So if the djs provided false information, then they changed her treatment which is a monumental problem for her. They decreased her hope in getting out of her situation, making someone who could have already not had the desire to live but was managing it, feel as if she completely lost control of her life. Then it also really damages how people she is closest to will interact with her. Life is incredibly frustrating when no one believes you, making her feel more out of control. And she knows she needs people who will be supportive. Then they damaged her reputation. She could not have been suicidal at the time, but those points needed to be communicated to the djs as that time and unfortunately, it was misunderstood and things got out of hand. But I think they were innocent on some level because I believe they thought it was just a prank and lacked knowledge of how mental illness works.

From what I read, all the suicidal nurse did was TRANSFER A CALL. She was indeed unstable if transferring a call caused her to commit suicide. The DJ's are not responsible for her death.

Flaggy, why don't you walk a mile in this nurse's shoes before you spout off. The prank call by itself may not have led to her suicide, but the after-math sure did.

She had the infamous British tabloid press camped out outside her apartment. She is not a celebrity, who are somewhat experienced in dealing with those vultures.

Which came first - the prank call or the suicide??????

I rest my case.

No, YOU are wrong. I could care less about what the newspaper says, why do you? Do YOU have a brain and can you think for yourself? The newspapers aren't the gospel. The newspapers followed quota, get it? They are suppose to say that, it's the bloody Princess you moron!

THEY FOLLOWED HER LIKE THEY HAD ON DOZENS AND DOZENS OF EVENINGS BEFORE THAT NIGHT, THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME YOU Generic Idiot!!!!!!!

What was different is that they were ahead of them and heading into a tunnel at a speed that was too fast to make the slight right turn. I used to live there, I know that area and I know it well. How come the Paparazzi didn't crash???? Figure that out numbskull.

Predatory behavior of the media, is that what you said? No, it was their driving that got them killed. They follow them on a DAILY BASIS why should that night have been any different?

You Americans aren't that smart.

I also remember the glossed over fact that the driver was drunk. I believe that would have been the headline if the accident had happened to a Hollywood celebrity in the United States.

I've heard that many times and you may be right but honestly I have no clue if he was legally drunk or not, but it was their fault as it was their actions, not those in cars behind them with nothing but cameras. Take bloody responsibility for your own actions when it's your fault. The paparazzi didn't make them go that fast, they did it themselves.

What if Heather Utrata or Jason Richardson were to commit suicide after a Let's Run thread attack? Would all of you be responsible if one of the many people that this messageboard attacks in a very vile and personal manner were to commit suicide? Some of the bloggers and runners attacked are very clearly mentally ill as shown in their own blogs.

Think about that.

And that's why I'm not one of the jerks on this site who slander and libel people to no end. One day it will end as suits will be filed and people will be scared to type anything. Many don't believe it but wait for it, it's a coming!

THEY FOLLOWED HER LIKE THEY HAD ON DOZENS AND DOZENS OF EVENINGS BEFORE THAT NIGHT, THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME YOU Generic Idiot!!!!!!!

It's almost not worth responding to someone whose debating skills are this poor, but let me ask you a couple of questions:

1) Have you never put up with something irritating for day after day, and then one day, just out of the blue decided "enough's enough"? Do you think it possible that Diana and Dodi just had a rush of blood to the head, and decided to dump the paps, despite the fact that being followed was part of their daily "routine"?

2) Have you never ever made a wrong decision, or made a mistake? If you can honestly tell us that you've never, ever chosen to do the wrong thing, ever, then you are simply a unique person and there is no point continuing this discussion.

People make mistakes and chose to make the wrong actions all the time, and sometimes it leads to their deaths, or the deaths of others (viz. the father in Pennsylvania who shot his son by accident).

What you have to look at is the precipitating cause of the wrong decision/action - if the paparazzi had not been following Diana and Dodi that night, they would not have made the error in judgement and tried to outrun them: therefore - whether or not they SHOULD have tried to escape the paparazzi - the paparazzi ARE responsible for the deaths of Diana and Dodi.

I'm sorry you can't see that, but as I pointed out earlier, you don't seem to be very clever so perhaps your inability to think through the issues should not be a surprise.

All that aside, whether or not the paparazzi are responsible for the deaths of Diana and Dodi (they are), many, if not most, British people blame the paparazzi, and all remember the two little princes at the funeral.

I can understand why the nurse, who must have been pretty fragile anyway, might be distraught enough at the thought that she had allowed the media to cause Prince William any further pain to think that suicide was a rational response.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again (pay attention Flaggy): the resaons for her suicide don't have to make sense to us, they only has to make sense to her. We aren't privy to all the other events in her life.

BTW, I know Paris exceptionally well and the layout of the Pont d'Alma tunnel is particularly irrelevant. Also I'm not American - so you are the one whose assumptions are making him look stupid.

Do you actually still believe that these people are special by some sort of birthright?

Um, no - the UK (and the 15 Commonwealth nations who acknowledge the Crown as their Head of State) are CONSTITUTIONAL monarchies; their position is granted to them under the Constitution and has nothing to do with birthright.

Heredity and birthright are not the same things at all, but perhaps you ought to know this sort of thing BEFORE you post?

A little more time in school might do you some good - at least it will give you less time to make a fool of yourself on LetsRun.

Like I said, I'm not a fan of pranks...for the very reason that you don't know the unintended consequences. Those DJs could not have known her mental stability, which is why they shouldn't have done this, but just because the prank occurred and then she committed suicide does not mean that they caused her death. If I were one of the DJs, I would have a very hard time living with myself, because of course, it is difficult to NOT make that connection, but I wouldn't have done the prank to begin with.For someone who is completely sane, the aftermath of this prank should not have been enough to cause that person to take their own life. Maybe we should blame the British press and not the DJs? Nah...I blame either (though again, I think pranks are punky and they shouldn't have done it).Morning DJs, Howard Stern, prank shows on television...this happens all the time, and obviously people aren't generally killing themselves over this.I definitely feel bad for that woman and her family. I also feel bad for the DJs too...they have great hatred going their way when the thing they did not only was intended to be an innocent prank, but it was surely something that was expected from their bosses. Gotta get ratings, and they were riding high initially when success of their prank went worldwide.Maybe the prank thing will cool down a little now...maybe that's one good thing that can come of this.

Flagpole, there is no such thing as an INNOCENT prank.

The prankee never finds it funny (they just pretend to).

It is only the pranker & some in the general public that finds this hilariously funny.

This nurse would have been reminded about this event/prank the rest of her life....as in "Oh, you're that nurse that........".

GenericID wrote:

Do you actually still believe that these people are special by some sort of birthright?

Um, no - the UK (and the 15 Commonwealth nations who acknowledge the Crown as their Head of State) are CONSTITUTIONAL monarchies; their position is granted to them under the Constitution and has nothing to do with birthright.

Heredity and birthright are not the same things at all, but perhaps you ought to know this sort of thing BEFORE you post?

A little more time in school might do you some good - at least it will give you less time to make a fool of yourself on LetsRun.

You're kidding, right? You are going to rest your case on a distinction without a difference. Good lord, you are lame!

UK wrote:

A prank among friends is one thing.

If you play a prank on a stranger, you lose control of the message and have no idea what the reaction will be.

I suspected there would be defenders of the DJ's right to be idiots.

I also suspect none of defenders will be from the hospital or the family of the deceased.

This comment from earlier in the thread is worth bumping.

Unless you know the person you are pranking, you keep it to yourself. It's called being an adult.

You need to think of that before intruding on a strangers life.

Free expression is a wonderful thing, but it needs to be exercised responsibly.

This comment from earlier in the thread is worth bumping.

Unless you think that life is an absolutely risk-free and fun-free enterprise, feel free to lighten up the world with fun pranks. It's called being human.

You don't need to but if you can bring forth that childlike energy that leads to fun pranks and lots of laughs the world will thank you for it.

Walking around encased with a depressive 'oh, we shouldn't, there is some possibility that someone will get upset' mindset is not a wonderful thing.

----------------------------------------------------

Sorry, but your simplistic thinking just doesn't cut it. There is a HUGE difference between being purposefully mean to someone and pulling a prank on someone. My apologies if you are incapable to understanding this. Pulling pranks is a time honored tradition throughout the world. Perhaps we should just shut down every activity that could possibly have some impact on someone, somewhere, in some deranged state of mine making a bad decision. In that case, let's all just never get out of bed.

Try this horrible, completely unacceptable prank involving people that the pranksters do not know personally:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSqcdQWxgOY

or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuB2OfRACw0

or...

Yes, by all means, let's avoid ever doing anything out of the ordinary, funny...with anyone unless we can be 100% sure that every single person involved is in absolutely perfect health and has signed a waiver indicating that they understand exactly what is going on and approve of this activity.

codger wrote:

Flagpole, there is no such thing as an INNOCENT prank.

The prankee never finds it funny (they just pretend to).

It is only the pranker & some in the general public that finds this hilariously funny.

This nurse would have been reminded about this event/prank the rest of her life....as in "Oh, you're that nurse that........".

Notice that I didn't say it was "innocent". I said that what the DJs intended was for it to be innocent. I agree that there's no such thing as an innocent prank which is why they shouldn't be done to begin with (which I've said). I think we mostly agree. I just can't go so far though as to say what they did caused her death.

If they greased some stairs and she fell and died, then yes. Causing her embarrassment so that she commits suicide though...no. I can't go that far. Suicide is the result of the person doing it, and the blame...cause...however you want to categorize it goes to the person who committed suicide.

I mean, codger, what if I were in such a fragile state that your disagreement with me right now led me to commit suicide? Would you be responsible? Certainly not. Same thing...except that pulling a prank like that is PUNK, but basically it's the same thing.

You are going to rest your case on a distinction without a difference.

But there is a difference, and I feel sorry for anyone who is so stupid that they can't make the distinction.