Posted on 11/06/2010 5:54:37 PM PDT by prisoner6
Although Matt Hughes, a spotter on the Discovery series Storm Chasers, died on May 26th, many fans only found out this week when told he suffered "a fatal injury at home." Today, we've learned it was from a suicide attempt.
The death of storm-chaser Matt Hughes was today at the center of intense speculation. Mmany fans only found out the 30-year-old presenter had passed away at the end of Wednesday's episode of the Discovery series in which he starred.
Hughes, who has a wife Kenda and two sons Collin and Hunter, actually died on May 26.
He was not killed in the course of chasing storms — an obsession he pursued for 15 years — but after suffering a fatal injury at his home.
There were today reports that Hughes's death was due to complications from a failed attempt to kill himself.
Aaron Blaser, a meterologist who had worked with Hughes for many years, claimed he had tried to kill himself on May 14.
In a post titled 'RIP Matt', Blaser described on his blog how he was taken to hospital and spent several days in intensive care:
"One of our KAKEland StormChasers, Matt Hughes, was taken to the hospital after trying to take his life. This sentence is still hard to explain and even more difficult to express on a computer screen. Matt was in the hospital for several days in intensive care, there was a 24 hour vigil outside the waiting room, family, other chasers, business associates, etc."
The presenter began working on the hit show as a spotter for veteran Sean Casey.
He pioneered tracking storms in the 'Doghouse' vehicle and Casey was then able to intercept them in his purpose-built TIV-3 shown above. We met Casey and his TIV-2 at SEMA two years ago. Read more about that here.
It's what happens when people abandon God.
..what a shame
lemmings
“As far as I know, we are the only species that commits suicide...”
Uhhh....beached whales, dolphins. I am sure there are more.
The Hollyweird videos?
I agree, I chase on a very amateur level in the Spring and Summer. All of the Tornados ive seen were out in the middle of nowhere, just where I want them. Im not chasing into a town or city, it narrows my escape routs if something goes wrong, and its much harder to see anything with all the buildings and trees.
I have little respect for famous people who commit suicide.
Sorry that’s just what you said..only with bigger words.
yes, and on the last episode he guided them to an almost perfect tornado intercept. Maybe he thought he had nothing left to look forward to after reaching this goal.
Exactly...
Depression of any kind is hell but especially depression that is clinical. It's hard to treat too.
OKC, several of my friends were chasing a tornado.
They got the warning out and saved hundreds.
They had to hunker down under an overpass as the tornado came over them.
Everyone was holding to each other in a chain.
A young couple was at the entrance of the overpass and the tornado tried to suck them out. a rock went through the hand of the husband and the Woman was gone.
It was terrifying.
They found her in a field about a mi away.
Still, hundreds were saved.
Do you think they know? Maybe lemmings do despair over their lot in life and communally end it all...maybe not.
If, on the other hand it's the result of something as simple as fleeing predators like sharks or orcas, then it appears to be a deliberate course of action, a "lesser of two evils" or "easier way out" and in that regard, would exhibit a fairly direct parallel to human suicide...The ultimate extreme of "flight" in a fight or flight response.
I hesitate to compare the two behaviors that directly until we know if cetaceans even have the cognitive ability to make such a deliberate choice (ironically, it may be their survival instinct that drives them to engage in self-destructive behavior), and until we can rule out other causes for beaching.
I really must defend him in some way.
Several years ago, my husband’s cousin committed suicide by walking in front of a train. The shock to family and friends was profound as he was in the prime of his life and seemingly a very successful and happy man.
After his death, family began discovering that he was having difficulty sleeping and had seen a doctor for a prescription of Ambien.
The drug is safe if taken correctly though there are side effects, one of which is thoughts of suicide. It clearly says that if this occurs, one should tell their doctor and cease taking it immediately.
It is possible that this young man could have been the victim of something like this. Please don’t be so quick to judge.
May God have mercy on his soul, and may his family have the love and support they need to get through this.
Yes!
A very permanent solution to a temporary problem.
I understand what you are saying, but I wouldn't consider anybody from a Discovery Channel show to be "famous", except for maybe the 24/7 angry dad with the bad mustache from the motorcycle show (Paul, or what ever his name is. See how famous he is.)
A lot of the best jobs exist due to the misery and sometimes death of others. It doesn't make them dishonorable.
Lisa on "Ice Road Truckers" is famous in my book.
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