Scarred for life by a gruesome Google images search

I saw the most scarring photos I have ever seen in my life Monday, making it hard for me to fall asleep that night as the images kept replaying themselves in my head.

Trust me, it wasn't very smart on my part. I Google searched "suicide attempt" in hopes to get information and graphics for my blog post Monday. But I guess these images made it past the safety controls of the newsroom computer.

The photos I saw were definitely not photos of "attempts," but were instead photos of completed suicides. And, although I didn't take the time to examine these photos, I'm sure the pictures were of real people.

The photos I saw were of people with the entire side of their face blown in, their jaw missing and blood everywhere.

Being a journalist, every day we hear about people who have died. Hearing about these stories every day, it's easy to desensitize yourself. But seeing these images on Google gave me a high-dose of reality to what ACTUALLY happens.

Suicide is not a peaceful way to go. It's gruesome. And, when your body is found, this will be people's last memory of you.

I think this is important for people to know. If I was considering suicide, I can tell you right now, these pictures definitely would have made me reconsider.

In an interview with Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh, he talked to me about the "ugly side of suicide." I couldn't even imagine what Narsh goes through -- seeing images like this in person when I felt like I was going to throw up after just seeing an image.

Narsh said some manners of death leave a very messy scene that will permanently scar every member of the family, those who see the scene or can imagine the scene.

“That puts an image in everyone’s mind. Instead of (remembering) you at a happy time, forever now they see this image as well,” Narsh said.

“In addition, muscle activity ceases when brain activity ceases. Therefore anything in the bowels or bladder are coming out … And what happens if you’re only partially successful? There are people who end up on life-support or paralyzed or in some other form of trauma. What if, in the attempt, you now become a quadriplegic or severely handicapped?”

Narsh asks teenagers if what they thought was important at 8 years old is still important to them today. In the same way, problems as a teenager will no longer seem as big when they are adults. He tells them, “There is a 25-year-old you who will forever be changed, destroyed or altered by a poor decision made by a 15-year-old you. That 25- or 35-year-old you can be forever robbed by the 15-year-old you. Let life happen and life will reward you.”

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3 comments

  1. I once happened upon a series of photos of people who died in motorcycle crashes. No explanations, but pictures of people torn in half, with their guts dragged out like dental floss, heads lopped off ... uck! It was difficult to pull away at first, but later I wondered why I kept looking.

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    1. What did you search to find that? I want to make sure I never search for that!

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    2. There are many gruesome photographs (such as the one described above) on Snopes.com
      The owners of Snopes will let you know if an image is real, fake, altered, or has a false description/story. That is found on their "Fauxtos" page.

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