Or be nudged...
Posted on 09/16/2020 2:33:15 PM PDT by packrat35
TWO teenage friends plunged 100ft to their deaths just moments after posting a snap from the top waterfall.
Bruna Vellasquez, 18, and Monique Medeiros, 19, died after one of them slipped and the other tried to help.
The pair, described by friends as "inseparable", had gone for a walk with friends to the beauty spot in Brazil.
Police said one of the women slipped near the top of the waterfall and the other lost her balance when she went to help.
Tragically, both young women were killed after falling together in Salto Caveiras, Lages.
Bruna Vellasquez, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene before rescuers arrived, while Monique Medeiros lost her fight for life in hospital shortly after.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesun.co.uk ...
My brother would fly to Saudia Arabia but I couldn’t get him up on scaffolding.
I not only get queasy standing near a precipice, I get queasy looking at pictures of other people standing near a precipice.
Its never the fall that kills - its the landing.
I've always hated heights. I couldn't even stand walking across a bridge that had metal grating you had to walk on, and could see the water running below you. My stomach even lurches when watching some programs and movies that show heights. I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
If you go to the skywalk the Indians have NO Barriers at the canyon and you can quite easily fall off the edge
A healthy dose of acrophobia assures that I’ll never put that to a test.
I visited the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland on a tour bus back in 2006. The first thing they told us was to stay behind the fences because plenty of people who ventured beyond them to the cliff edge, ended up losing their lives. It's not just the winds, but the edge is unstable. I didn't wander over to where the fences were, but stayed behind the concrete wall to get safe pictures. On the day we were there, I photographed, from a distance, people who had climbed over the fence, and were at the cliff edge. I've always been the cautious type, and my fear of heights has helped me remain that way. I couldn't even stand going on the Ferris wheel, or the roller coaster.
Someone posted this online: "Overall, 66 deaths occurred on or at the base of the Cliffs of Moher during the period 1993 through August 2017. In total, 18 (27.3%) of the victims were international visitors to Ireland, including 11 males (61.1%). The mean age of travellers ( n = 17) was 34.2 years."
Mark it up to the Invincibility of Youth. Which is frequently a bad choice turning fatal.
My wife and I sat on the edge of the Grand Canyon when we were newly married. My beer bottle slipped and went over the edge and I unconsciously counted the seconds until I heard it hit bottom and break. I gentle, carefully went back over to the walk way making sure my wife was safe as well. Scary stuff.
I read once that it's not fear of heights that you ( and I) feel, it's fear of edges. It's b/c we are afraid we will jump. That's why I can look out of an airplane window and be intrigued but not terrified as I am when I look over a balcony 20 stories up.
I *think* they are sitting on a ledge 100 ft above that creek.
Note how small the people in the background look...
People need to remember that the mist created by the waterfall will make everything near it very slippery.
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Correct. Not only the mist makes them slippery, but in this wet environment, the rocks are often covered with slippery algae growth - rocks look like they are just wet; however, they are slick as ice. Even good hiking shoes/soles may not help you on rocks like that. Crossing creeks, in great hiking boots, I’ve slipped on rocks covered with algae, but at least I just got a little wet, not killed in a fall.
We have a very popular waterfall that lots of day hikers like to visit. The death count was 30, back in 2015. A lot of the deaths were college students/young adults who go past safety barriers to get out on the rocks, not realizing how slick they are. I think at least two deaths were similar to those in this post - one fell and the other tried to help, also falling to their death.
Not guilty!
“Gurl POWER!! We da bomb!”
“Mark it up to the Invincibility of Youth. Which is frequently a bad choice turning fatal.”
—
Doing stupid shite is part of growing up, hopefully a person doesn’t manage to kill himself.
Some get really banged up, but luckily survive, e.g. -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSQRp3Ktzuo
I saw something similar at Grand Canyon years ago. A little kid, maybe 4 or 5 years old with his feet on the guard rail looking into the canyon. If he had slipped he would have been gone immediately.
I mentioned “Oh please little one, don’t put your feet there as you might slip through!”
The father heard me and chewed his kid good. Pop had been too busy looking at the canyon.
Then my wife proceeds to slip and slide toward the edge in an unguarded spot. Luckily she stopped before she hit the edge.
I was just there a few years back and there were a lot of people defying the barriers and jumping out onto ledges just to get a cooler selfie.
I couldn’t watch. Gave me the gee willies.
Or be nudged...
Ed McMahon was a Marine pilot and often mention that he had a fear of being near and edge at high altitudes. It was the same as what you say you have, as I.
I don’t have actual acrophobia, but my fear of heights has increased as I’ve gotten older. It serves me well by keeping me away from cliff edges.
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