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.
I live in the OKC area and say Thank God for storm chasers!
We all walk that lonesome valley. For some of us, perhaps a lot, it is a very long, hard journey.
A decade or so ago a very good friend of mine killed himself. He kept a running log as he died. His first attempt - drugs - failed and he turned to a shotgun.
All the warning signs were there. He gave things away. Told us that if he hadn't made it BIG by the time he was 40 it would be best to end it and start over again.
He was at my house as well as with a few other friends a couple of days before and talked about how the best way to commit suicide was to do it in the way that would most impact those left behind.
We talked about it but chalked it up to his "personality" and blunt ways.
All his friends knew he had problems with the ladies (not really, he just saw it that way), health and maybe finances. However he was a strong fellow...someone we all looked up to. We all kept in touch with him daily...involved him in everything we did, but he apparently still felt alone.
From what we gather he got a poor prognosis from a doctor.
It was a community picnic day but he didn't want to go...claimed he wanted to plan for our annual Summer get together at his rural house.
When my wife, kids and I got home around 11pm there was a letter with sealing wax - one of his trademarks. The letter was obscure and dark. The phone message machine was jammed. We all knew there had been a problem.
I was the closest so I went. The police were there. I was the first friend/relative in. It was not pleasant.
He had a bottle of scotch on the table with glasses and notes. There was a plastic sheet in the living room. What was left of him was upstairs in the bathtub.
I am not going to be graphic. It was NOT pleasant.
Some of us still can't come to grips with it.
It could have been mental or physical health or something else.
We aren't judging him, but what he did was wrong, especially in such a way that so many of his friends were left scared.
Most of all it was a wrong against The Creator.
He had a death wish, they all do.
At least the ones who aren’t adrenalin junkies have.
+1!
“Also, have a little compassion and don’t sound so belittling. There is help for people who have struggles and the belittling from others is what causes the stigmatization that prevents those who need help from getting it.”
I had no intention in my post of belittling anyone. I honestly do not understand what would drive someone to actually kill themselves particularly those who have families and young children. Did this television personality feel stigmatized and not seek help? I guess it may be something beyond psychological help; perhaps something induced chemically within the body’s systems.
I’m so sorry that you had that experience. It really is devastating to the surviving family and friends when someone chooses to take their own life.
As your story illustrates, we can never ever know what is truly in the hearts and minds of someone else. That doesn’t make it easier and the pain of such a loss is so profound.
I too believe that suicide is a wrong. Anger, guilt and recriminations are natural responses to it.
I was just saddened by the posts I was seeing and wanted to explain that sometimes there is more to it than meets the eye.
Agreed!
It may be a spur of the moment thing. Most of us at one time or another, for one reason or anther, have felt so overwhelmed, so helpless, so abandoned and alone even in a crowd that going on seems impossible.
And then...there is Faith.
I still agree with you. ;)
I haven’t seen a lot of the show, but he seemed to have some anger and jealousy issues.
Yes, we can thank Disney for that little lie.
Storm chasers have to live with the thought that their biggest thrill comes at someone else’s expense. They celebrate someone’s complete destruction.
_________________________________________________________
These Storm Chasers just plain get on my nerves! I cannot watch these shows. They always act like spastic children.
We know...you guys are a adrenalin junkies...we get it already.
With all of the high tech equipment…is this stuff absolutely necessary? Maybe it is…
Our minds are incredibly powerful. My theory is that most suicides are usually not an impulsive action, but a culmination of thoughts that snowball out of control.
Leaving a wife and two children..Wow!
Sorry if this sounds cold, but if you have a family depending on you, you buck up and stay strong for them. If you need to, get help.
Any of you folks who want to make excuses for this guy...be sure to also sit down and tell his wife and kids how they need to understand what he did. They’re the real victims here!
Lemmings?
Yea, suicide is not something one can take back, is it?
Alas, my husband’s cousin had no faith and therefore no one to whom he could turn for strength and guidance.
Condemn and pray you’ll never feel the pain yourself.
In an essay I read recently, the author, a Catholic, imagined a man on the cross, and Christ on his knees in front of it begging forgiveness. (Save your outrage at this blasphemy for a better occasion.)
I came home nine years ago and found that my wife had taken her life. It was not pleasant. I still hurt profoundly. She had become bipolar, she was taking diet pills, ambien, hydrocodone, imitrex, and several medications for depression and anxiety. She was sick because no loving person in their right mind would leave their three year old daughter and husband alone for the rest of their living lives. I am not angry at her, I am not angry at anyone for what happened. I just know we miss her deeply. I don’t think that God would consider her action a sin, she was sick and therefore not culpable. Mental illness is a disease. The suicide rate for bipolar individuals is upwards near 95% successful.
Its always sad to hear of a suicide...many are the result of untreated depression...
My great uncle took his life nearly thirty years ago. He was convinced he had cancer because of pain and various issues, and no one could tell him otherwise. As someone who has FMS, I wonder if it wasn’t something along those lines - the pain can be rather unbearable and all over the body.
He went shopping with Grandma one day, and said he needed to stop by his house for something. He told her to pick him back up at a certain time, but took his life with a shotgun in the meantime.
He knew she would be the one to find him, and she was a very emotional person. I’ll never understand why he did that to her. It was an extremely cruel thing to do. As hard as a drug overdose would be to find, leaving that image in someone’s mind is hard for me to fathom, especially with the inability to think there’s a chance of revival or even to hold them.
Mom, Dad, my aunt and uncle did the cleanup. I can’t imagine having to do such a thing. It is just cruel all-around.
I guess I should get back to your original point...it had to have been a mental illness left unchecked; he couldn’t have done something like that otherwise. He loved his sister too much for that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.