THE TELEGRAPH – Last year’s death statistics show an increasingly disturbing trend. Deaths due to COVID are down, but fatalities due to selfies are on the rise.
A selfie is a picture taken of oneself with a smartphone and usually in an extremely dangerous situation in order to attract followers on a social media platform. So, if you are starving for attention, selfies will temporarily satisfy this craving.
Men are twice as likely to die from selfies than women and I don’t know about you, but that comes as no surprise to me.
The problem is that people are increasingly choosing dangerous situations and locations, such as next to a steep cliff or overhang, near a vicious, wild animal (see grizzly bear or rhinoceros), in the path of an onrushing train, near a loaded weapon or near high voltage power lines.
What is driving people to do this besides an appalling lack of judgment? Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat just to name a few. They always warned you that social media was harmful to your health, didn’t they?
Death by selfie even surpassed death by shark attack last year. There was one person who died taking a selfie with a shark, so I think that one was double-counted.
It may surprise you to know that India leads the world in deaths by selfie, but the US, Russia, and Pakistan are right behind them. These selfie deaths just go to show you that knowing how to use a smartphone doesn’t necessarily make you smart.
The places people choose to take these selfies can be somewhat bizarre. Some places have had to ban them, because it is so inappropriate. For example, selfies had to be outlawed at Auschwitz concentration camp recently … READ MORE.
26 July, 2022
22-year-old tourist tragically dies after being hit by helicopter rotor while reportedly attempting to take a selfie
Opindia – Jack Fenton, a 22-year-old British national, died after being hit by a helicopter blade while attempting to take a photo as he alighted from the aircraft. He was struck when he walked behind the Bell 407 helicopter while its engines were still running.
A 22-year-old rich British tourist named Jack Fenton died in Greece after being hit by the rear blade while attempting to take a photo as he alighted from the aircraft. Rescue services were dispatched to the private heliport, but Fenton reportedly died in the spot.
The pilot then made a call to his colleague on another chopper, which was carrying the man’s parents, to raise the alarm. To avoid the man’s parents from seeing the fatal outcome, the pilot of the second helicopter decided to divert from the private airstrip in Sparta and instead made an unplanned landing at Athens International Airport.
According to some media reports, Jack was snapping a selfie when he was knocked in the head by the high-speed rotor. [Other reports say he was talking on his phone.] The details of the accident are being investigated, but the pilot might face criminal charges if it is found that he advised the passengers to vacate the helicopter before the engine and rotors had shut.
“He was the first to disembark the Bell 407 helicopter in Athens and as he moved to the back, he was hit in the head by the aircraft’s small rear rotor,” a senior police officer told The Times. “There was no chance of him surviving. His death was instantaneous” … READ MORE.
