Man leaves suicide note, then steps in front of MAX train
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ALOHA, Ore. - A man was killed when he stepped in front of a moving MAX train.
The incident happened around 6:45 p.m. Saturday at Southwest 175th and Baseline Road in Aloha.
According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, a 55-year-old white male stepped into the path of the train and despite life-saving measures, died at the scene.
A suicide note was found nearby. The man has not yet been identified pending notification of next of kin.
MAX service was disrupted for a few hours after the incident.
How about a follow-up story about local suicide prevention resources? Today was World Suicide Prevention Day http://www.iasp.info/.
I can understand this. I have family who do ot speak to me in 8 years, but they are Christian? I did notthing wrong. But now I feeel hopeless, and think what he did could be good idea.
 @Hala Maksoud Suicide is never a "good idea", it's only a means to an end and it's permanent.  I can understand your need for family but you don't need a blood tie to have family. From your post to a public forum, it's not hard to see that you want help, whether it's professional care or just someone to talk to, there is always help available if you just ask.  Don't give up on life and happiness. it really is all worth it.  Is there anything I can do to help you?Â
No. It really isn't a good idea. It might benefit you to pick up the phone and give a call to the suicide help line or call 911. There are ways to resolve these things. Do not give up on yourself. You cannot do this yourself though, because it is difficult to see thru the fog and despair. Please reach out for help. Do not create grief for an innocent driver who would have the nightmare of knowing they ran you over and leaving them to live with those flashbacks from tragedy. Be brave. Pick up the phone and get someone to help you find resolution to your dilemma. Options abound. Choose another option that is more positive, PLEASE.
Reading some of the comments here it becomes quite clear to me why some of the 'regulars' are always here. A complete inability to relate on a human level. Sad...very, very sad.
who cares!
His family, his friends, and people who aren't heartless.
Mentally ill people who want to end things do not necessarily sit and pick the most dramatic end, but some do. Â Regardless, they are mentally ILL. Â I feel horribly for the driver, family members, and passengers, but still, the sod who did this was not exactly in a place where he should be 'ashamed' of himself.
 @fxholeatheist Quite you assume he's mentally ill? The decision to end your life is quite often just a logical choice, remember that no one needs more reasons to kill themselves â we all have plenty of those, and you're going to die someday anyway. What people need is a reason NOT to kill themselves. And given the general pointlessness of life and the lack of an answer to the "why are we here" question, maybe it was just that he had no reason to bother to go on living. Like I said, the way I feel about it were all going to die someday anyway so why prolong the discomfort if that's what your life is â and I don't just mean medical discomfort. In this economy with wife sucking so hard, sometimes it does seem like a good quick way out.however, shame on him for doing it like this and involving the max train driver.
It is too bad the person did not have someone to talk to before they stepped in front of a train. It is too bad he felt this was the only path left to him.
I feel sorry for his family and the operator of the train. I also feel sorry that he did not either take the time to ask for help, or just find someone to listen to him.
No problem in the world should cost a life.
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I have no sympathies for this man. For his family? Absolutely! For the driver of the max train? Absolutely! I can imagine that the max driver is completely shaken. There is no reason, nor excuse for this man to have emotionally damaged another human being. Over something that IS preventable.
 @lped Preventable yes, but not likely. Most people would have to take time away from their latte's, laptops, and cell phones to notice someone in distress, and unfortunately in today's world that is not likely. The idea to commit suicide is not about other people, but instead is a moment in life when that individual feels as though there is nothing left to live for and is not surrounded by enough people who notice the change. Helping someone is only possible when they want help to change, otherwise you might as well try to teach you family pet to fly, as you will have better luck doing that then helping someone who does not want to change.
Why all the outpouring of sympathies for such a public and disruptive suicide?  The man quite selfishly forced others to be tools in his self-murder. Sane, consideraate people will never be "in his shoes one day." This sentiment probably comes from someone who considers the poor man's last showy act as somehow awesome. Compassion for his family he cheated, yes, but none for the coward.
 @Chase Oh yes, the esteemed, loving KATU community is at it again. They show their love and compassion for a higher spirit on such a daily basis.
 @Chase Feelings like those are exactly why things like this happen. Nobody cares about anyone these days and has no time to look around and see what is going on. They simply determine that there is "something" wrong with them, but takes no initiative to say hello or ask how they are doing. You do not need to be a trained therapist to make a difference, but you have to be a human being and not just a robotic organic life form that moves from place to place and activity to activity. Not to mention that everyone does not start out tweaked, many people who commit suicide are sane and considerate people who just have lost all hope that anything will change. Committing suicide does not mean the person previously walked around talking to Elvis and playing with the fairy's that followed them around.
 @Chase Why offer sympathy to someone that is distressed beyond his coping mechanisms?  Perhaps because it's what we as decent human beings should do.  Instead of showing anger at someone that takes their own life, perhaps we should look for ways of avoiding tragic circumstances like this in the future?
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As someone that has been at that low of a point in my life, I can say honestly that it is a very scary and very lonely place to be. Â I was fortunate that my last rational thought was to know that I wasn't rational enough to trust myself. Â I was put into lockup to avoid doing just what this gentleman did. Â The unfortunate part is, not everyone can do this. Â Some people would be more afraid of the medical bill that being in lockup would generate than the fear of being dead. Â It's tragic that this gentleman took his life out in a public setting and hurt someone with him, but it's just as tragic that things went far enough for him to feel the need to do this.
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I hope that this loss of life will make people be more observant. Â You can't just tell someone to 'Cheer up or get over it.' Â Sometimes the problems that you feel are trivial will bring someone else to the breaking point.
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If anyone feels like they have a friend or a loved one that is at risk of ending their life, please remember there is help open to them.  You can always reach the suicide helpline at  1-800-273-TALK (8255).  Even if it is you that is suffering, pick up the phone and call.  There is hope, there is people looking out for you.
Thats a teriffic post.. And it may help a lot of people!!!  Good on ya !
 @Texanhippy I've never been there, so I don't know what it's like.
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I don't know what else to say besides:Â thank you, genuinely, for sharing.
@Chase ......I don't think its "sympathy" so much as its compassion for another human being that couldn't resolve issues in their life and chose this means to end it.
His suicide was a very selfish act. Why must he involve someone else do end his life? You can easily end your own life without assistance.
Not only did he ruin his life, but the driver of the train.
Selfish.
 @Agent Sydney Bristow His act selfish?  I have family that does not speak to me for 8 years because I am not exactly what they want me to be. Your family should love you in all things, but to hold that love hostage until you return to being exactly what they want to be is criminal. They are the criminals.
 @Hala Maksoud wah-huh? What on earth are you complaining about? Do you even know what this story is about?
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Let me sum up. This man forced another human being (the driver) to kill him. How is this NOT a selfish act? The unidentified man should have killed himself WITHOUT involving anyone else.
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Hala, perhaps you should think about the people in the story, and NOT yourself. This has NOTHING to do with you or your family problems.
Agent, "not only did he ruin his life'? really, dying ruined his life?
 @swimmer We have no way of knowing what else he may have been able to accomplish if he'd received the help he needed. Yes, dying ruined his life.
Hope you don't find yourself in his shoes one day...
 @Glenn Pierce His shoes are probably filled with goo after being hit by a train. AND I would NEVER be that selfish in forcing someone to end my life.
What don't you understand about that? Do you have any idea that the driver sits right up in the front of the train, probably had to look the guy right in the face as the train hit him. Can you even possibly imagine having to carry that image in your mind for the rest of your life???
It's not like the driver of the train could have swerved or anything.
Good lord Glenn, have some sympathy for the driver.
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Another HEARTLESS Troll...go away...
@onceagain ............quite compassionate, aren't you !
 @Rob C no not really the guy kills himself in a way to waste other people's time and money. He was a loser to begin with for taking his own life, wanting the easy way out.
@onceagain .......wow. "he was a loser......" With the bitterness and anger you post I wonder who the loser is !
Another HEARTLESS Troll...
It is totally appropriate to remember his family.
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Let's also remember the wholly innocent, unrelated victims here too -- the operator that started his/her shift yesterday, probably expecting it to be pretty routine, then ends up hitting and killing another human being due to actions not of the operator's doing. The passengers on the train who were just trying to get from point A to point B -- some of whom were going to get off at the next stop -- who had to see this incident occur.
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I sure hope I am never on MAX when another person decides it is time for his/her life to end.
 @nonpartisan I completely agree... I was thinking the exact same thing. If you want to kill yourself, fine, but it's not right to force someone to do it for you. The operator now has to live with the fact that he or she killed someone, even thought it wasn't their fault.
@nonpartisan ........excellent post !
This is an incredibly sad story but suicide is the most selfish act a person can commit. Â I feel sorry for his family.
 @Ixyavi People are truly not in their right minds when they commit suicide...read that as their minds/brains are >sick< and they cannot think normally...otherwise their survival instincts would have not allowed them to kill themselves. They are unable to discern *selfishness* when in such a distorted state of mind. There is a book about the people who actually survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in SF (rare that anyone survives that) which gives insight into their state of (broken) mind.
You hit it right on the head with your comment...when one is in a suicidal state, they certainly aren't in their right mind, and so overwhelming is the depression, the desperation for release from whatever psychic hell one is going through that the ability to take others into consideration is disabled...or distorted to the point that the suicidal person may think that everyone would be better off if he were gone.  I'm sure that there have been countless successful suicides that suddenly changed their minds after stepping off the bridge.  My sympathies to his family and friends...I know what its like to lose someone to suicide...I've lost 6 friends and acquaintances ofer the years.
why didn't he just board the Max if he wanted to die?
@Phuzz Wow, pretty crass statement don't you think? Wonder why this guy felt like the only avenue left to him in life was to commit suicide.Â
How heartbreaking. God bless his family and friends and bring them some kind of peace. If he could have only waited one more day, maybe the next day would have been brighter. My only wish is that he hadn't dragged so many others down with him.Â
K2 has clearly stated their position on the fluoride issue since you can't watch a video without seeing the fluoride propaganda.. Doubt that is just random.
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Maybe the guy couldn't handle the fact there is no one to really vote for now that Ron Paul has dropped out.
That's ridiculous!
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 @2nd Baseman You're still here, moron.
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 @2nd Baseman . . . and one more to go!
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 @molotovmouse They have some pretty good sales.
 @2nd Baseman  @nonpartisan You know when I first read that I thought it said, 'go to to Frys.'
@2nd Baseman Unbelievable how you can make such an insensitive statement. You don't know anything about this man and the conditions he lived in that made him believe that the only answer to his problems was suicide.Â