Utah teenager falls to death while taking photos with buddies on edge of canyon cliff: ‘Doing what he loved’

NY Post ^ | 2/1/24 | David Propper

[arthurus]

There is a video out there taken a while back of a lad climbing down below the edge of a lo-o-o-ong cliff onto a gnarled little tree that stuck out of the cliff face 8 or 10 feet below the edge. He had got his buddy to take a movie of him going down there too wave up at he camera only he miscalculated and the movie is of the unfortunate lad disappearing down into the distance.

[healy61]

Three sets if words stand out: thrill seeking; avid photographer; and shaky ground. What kind of thrills? What kind of photography equipment? And how was the ground shaking?

[gundog]

And he always walked away....

[verum ago]

Does the fact that he was doing something he loved make his death more virtuous or something?

I think it's supposed to be a reassurance that the deceased more or less "died happy."

Obviously this doesn't apply to the moment of death, but perhaps the day taken as a whole.

Better for an outdoorsman to die falling off a cliff in the outdoors than to drop from a heart attack at a desk in an office building.

All the above notwithstanding, "NNN died doing that they loved" is so grossly overused that it's becoming meaningless... It's gone from a an already shallow self-reassurance to a completely empty one in many cases.

[clintonh8r]

I never understood that. It’s a lot of feel good crap. Was the guy thinking during his fall, “Well at least I’m doing something I love. You know, like falling to a gory death.”

I don’t want to die “doing something I loved.” I want to die in my own bed, of old age, with no debilitating chronic illnesses, , just not waking up.

[DallasBiff]

And he always walked away....

Everybody knows that, it was a cartoon, in a much simpler time.

Today if Disney had the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote franchise, they would reboot it with a Wile She/her/them Coyote, getting rid of that blue and white Road Runner.

[dfwgator]

I don’t want to die “doing something I loved.” I want to die in my own bed, of old age, with no debilitating chronic illnesses, , just not waking up.

I just want to go peacefully in my sleep, unlike the screaming passengers in my car.

[ABN 505]

I did that to my wife when we were there, climbed over the edge to get a better picture, she almost had a heart attack.I heard they put up fencing now.

[gundog]

Landing on rock after falling hundreds of feet will make you fluid, but not gender fluid.

[beaversmom]

I saw this video below the other day on YT.

Also in Utah.

Absolutely horrific to think of being wedged in a cave.

https://youtu.be/o-TaF2DbaWw?si=yJ5F8uo6In8UgS_n

Sorry for the guy in the video. And sorry for the teenager to fall to his death.

I’ve been near some cliffs in the Canyonlands of Utah. Even with a fence and being several feet back, I still felt uneasy and cautious. I can do heights, but at a safe distance. I’m absolutely not a daredevil. Utah is so beautiful, but very dangerous.

[Rummyfan]

Doing what he loved?! Stupidly falling off a cliff?! What a waste….

[Rummyfan]

When I was younger heights never bothered me. Now just looking at a photo like that makes me dizzy.

[rlmorel]

I have been guilty of this myself. There is something about the Internet that does this. Only part of it is the “anonymity”.

Many people would comment to each other in a private conversation in ways that sound insensitive to others who might listen in, but would never be cruel enough to make comments like those within earshot of anyone that knew the deceased.

But on the Internet, everyone can “listen in” including the family of the person who died.

Sometimes we don’t care. For example, if I see an article about someone falling to their death because they were trying to break into some domicile or building to rob people, I would freely make pointed statements about the person’s mode of death.

But in cases like this, I remind myself that I don’t know the person, I don’t know who or what they are, so I try to avoid those comments. I always assume someone who loves the person who died can “listen in”.

If the person was trying to rob, rape, or commit crime, I don’t care. But if they just did something unwise or stupid, I tend not to comment anymore. I have given this some thought.

The truth is, we are given one life. Like being given $100 for a birthday. There it is. It is all yours. Spend it as you see fit.

Some people don’t spend it wisely. And given the right circumstances, that could be any of us.

[dfwgator]

Smart phones for stupid people.

[TalBlack]

“Thrill-seeking 19-year-old Jonathan Fielding…”

He got the thrill of his life in those last few seconds of it. His poor family…RIP.

[TalBlack]

Given enough time and money, man will always find a way to harm, maim, or kill himself.

I call it finding new and novel was to be killed.

[Responsibility2nd]

Great points. Years ago I posted here on FR some dippy DIE like article written for some liberal college paper by a young black female with a young black female name.

We all had a good laugh insulting her, her ideas and her name.

She actually registered and sent me a FReep mail outlining how insulted she was. Especially at our making fun of her AA influenced name.

Another time I wrote a vanity on how a relative I barely knew made the news on how she legally immigrated to the US and became a citizen instead of being one of the 60 million illegals.  She also found that thread on FR, registered and thanked me for the kind words.

Fact is... Lots of non FReepers use Google and other search engines to see what the net has to say about them personally. And others like Rush Limbaugh used to do also FReep to see current event thoughs by average conservatives.

I forget what I said,, but one day I commented something original, unique and very up to the minute on a FR thread. Something no one else had said or written.

Rush used that very comment later that day on his show. Unattributed of course. I felt good that he did that.

[Vermont Lt]

Doing what he loved? He loved leaning over cliff faces?

To each his own, I guess.

I prefer my cliff edges 10-15 feet away.

[animal172]

No. I think he understands it pretty well. Do stupid things and stupid things happen.

[rlmorel]

Those anecdotes you related speak volumes and remind us that our conversation here is less like a private chat and more like a conversation on a train where people around us can hear.

I think we do feel like we get to know people to a degree on FR, and we often speak conversationally.

I fully feel that we DO get to “know” people on this forum, and I have met somewhere between 50 and 100 in person in various venues, so I believe there is valid rationale for assuming this happens.

I have been surprised at the physical appearance of Freepers whom I have met in person, but I have rarely been surprised at thoughts they express verbally, and that has been an interesting and pleasant surprise.

In that light, I feel that we do communicate with each other in a fashion that does allow us to get to know each other, as if we were having dinner in a crowded and noisy restaurant, but like that restaurant, people do “hear”.