Body in the cupboard on LU!!!

[Tiddles]

Dead bodies being stored on the LU

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ntary.html

[amsie]

Personally I find it more disrespectful that these people decide to jump in front of a train, affecting the driver, passengers waiting on the platform, other passengers delayed across the network, the emergency services and the clean up team.

I was involved in the retiling of Bethnal Green station fairly recently and one night we had to tile an area where just that day a woman had commited suicide. As we were tiling we came across some bits of body, blood and hair. We left the track area under health and safety and waited for some cleaning staff to come and make the area clean.

I really felt for the poor cleaners having to remove those remnants of human remains and that was just some minor bit and pieces. God knows what it must be like removing the remains of a body after impact.

I remember there was blood splattered for quite a distance along the platform.

Paul

[Terrier]

Paul, i'm sure the last thing on a 'jumpers' troubled mind is the aftermath, infact thinking of the horrific consequences does stop a lot of people whose troubled state of mind has lead them to the edge of a railway platform, people who don't want to do die, but really, truthfully, want to 'live' and hopefully many go on to find a different, vastly more positive solution to their problems. You are welcome to your opinion for sure, i'mnot trying to 'shout you down' over it, just that personally, i wouldn't be quite so quick to label these poor lost souls as being disrespectful. People who have sadly, tragically and horrifically opted for the long term solution to the short term problem, whatever their mental condition at the time.

As for storing bodies temporarily in underground tunnels. hmm? dunno. no opinion on that.

Chris P

[stuartp]

Edited. How I miss the 'delete' button.

[Bushey Troughs]

I did 14 years on London Transport, and always thought that the Fire Brigade lifted the body off the track. Mind you I never read 'The Daily Hate'. I've recorded said programme, but I haven't watched it yet. I will look at it tomorrow, and come back to the thread if I've anything to add.

I'm still in two minds about committing suicide whether it's cowardly, or courageous. I was told by a very old Buddhist that if you do top yourself you're reincarnated, and have to go through the whole life cycle again. So i'm going to die in bed, or drop off a bar stool like my uncle Sid.

On a personal level I can remember when I was 12 my Dad was on his way home from Willesden. Someone decided to go under, it was Christmas eve. Dad was obviously delayed, so he crossed the road to "Peters Cafe" for a cup of tea. Being Christmas eve the mainbrace was spliced, and Dad arrived home 3 hours late a little merry. My Mother went ape s**t crazy I can still hear the argument now. It marked me, and just goes to show the knock on ripples of a suicide reach farther than you thought.

On a lighter note I always thought this would be a Rock and Roll demise. At the base of a 20 storey building you painted a 20 x 10 metre square in white, and under it you printed 'Self Portrait'. Then dived off the 20th floor aiming for the centre of the painted oblong. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, OR ANYWHERE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. It'll give me another guilt complex.

[amsie]

Paul, i'm sure the last thing on a 'jumpers' troubled mind is the aftermath, infact thinking of the horrific consequences does stop a lot of people whose troubled state of mind has lead them to the edge of a railway platform, people who don't want to do die, but really, truthfully, want to 'live' and hopefully many go on to find a different, vastly more positive solution to their problems. You are welcome to your opinion for sure, i'mnot trying to 'shout you down' over it, just that personally, i wouldn't be quite so quick to label these poor lost souls as being disrespectful. People who have sadly, tragically and horrifically opted for the long term solution to the short term problem, whatever their mental condition at the time.

As for storing bodies temporarily in underground tunnels. hmm? dunno. no opinion on that.

Chris P

Hi Chris,

No offence taken to someone having a different point of view. I of course pity people who reach that level of dispair and feel the need to do that. I know of a few people who have done so unfortunately, not jumpers though.

[b308]

I think the simple point being made was just that we (on the railways) wish they'd go somewhere else to do it... I have sympathy for the individual but I've also seen first hand how it affects the innocent people involved, especially the driver of the train, and that does reduce my sympathy I have to admit... For some drivers its like water off a duck's back... But for others...

[Tiddles]

I used to work at Ealing Broadway for Thames Trains where we had a couple of jumpers.
They used to take body to the down fast platform that was never used by stopping trains. It had a "bus shelter" seating area and a staff tee room on it.
One guy jumped in front of a passing HST and he was "atomised" but his hand landed on the platform in front of a group of school kids, who kicked it around the platform
I just though what a selfish "B" he was for causing everyone else delay and stress. But when is uncle came to the station to thank the staff, the selfish "B" suddenly became a person with problems who clearly could have had a good life if he had got the help he needed. The family had no idea of what he was planning. Apparently he disappeared from his rented room for a few weeks and the next thing they know he had jumped in front of a train.
There was another one that happened when I was not there. They say he just walked off the end of the platform and sat on the track. A Thames Turbo hit him and they say that the impact broke the front steps of the train
Some drivers are not bothered by these incidents but I know some who could never drive again. I don’t know how it affected their personal lives.
A lot of very unpleasant things happened at that station, some of it still worries me.

[UrbanHermit]

I don't know if this is still going on in the brave new world of TFL, but years ago in the headquarters offices of London Transport there was a thing called the One Under Club.

This was a sweepstake. Each subscriber was allocated one Underground station (or quite possibly more, depending on the size of the membership), and weekly contributions were made into a jackpot. Whenever some poor soul went under a train (Can you see this coming?) the member who "had" the station concerned scooped the pot. How sick is that?

My closest brush with such an incident was nearly 40 years ago, when I worked in an office overloking St Paul's Station. I was on the up escalator on my way to work when there came from below the sound of an unusually strong brake application and a prolonged blast of a train's hooter. Looking out of the office windows a few minutes later we saw the emergency services arrive. It was a good couple of hours before the remains emerged, strapped tightly to a stretcher under a blanket, but what I'll always remember was when they brought the train driver out: even from five floors up you could see what a dreadful state he was in. I wonder what he would have thought of the One Under Club.

[roadie stu]

bit of lazy journalism there (nothing new there!!) the body in the cupboard was mentioned on a show on channel 4

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/conf ... ground/4od

I watched it on thursday, worth a watch

Cheers

Stu

[trainsandco]

Ok, people who get to this stage clearly need help, but if they are going to do it, they shouldn't be so damn selfish, do it in Private with some rope, so the people affected by their actions is kept to a minimum.

[bsa77]

Having had to deal with quite a few attempt, both unsuccessful and successful I think that you (the public) can have a very blasé understanding of the human mind when it gets into such a depressed state. Don't get me wrong, successful attempts are pretty horrible regardless of the manner utilised and I've had a few cold sweats over one particular one - however no one forced me into this job.

On a personnel level, about 8 years ago I did some decorating for a friend of my mother in law - the chap was a bit odd although I had known him for a long time. He had locks on every door in the house and in his study he used to put post it notes everywhere with quotes from the bible on. He was randomly paranoid, cut himself of from his family due to the fact he was jealous of his brother and was very worried about "them" (the government) watching him. I did my work for him and we had a bit of a falling out because he didn't like the colour he had chosen (and bought) and I refused to repaint it for free.

I didn't hear from him for years but via the grapevine I found out he had been banned for drink driving (again) which was doubly bad as he was a private hire car driver. A short while after that he walked out in front of a lorry on the A3 - sad but didn't come as a surprise.

Because of the fact he kept himself so closed in very few people knew him and he didn't trust anyone - with hindsight the signs were clearly there but very little anyone could do for him.