Lothian Road Fatality This Morning

[Hibs Giant]

Anyone know what happened? I just saw the body being covered with blankets. Think it might have been someone jumping from a high window of the Caladonian.

Never seen a dead person before. It was quite unsettling.

[Ritchie]

Anyone know what happened? I just saw the body being covered with blankets. Think it might have been someone jumping from a high window of the Caladonian.

Never seen a dead person before. It was quite unsettling.

thats what happened.

[Pretty Boy]

Thread on the PM forum about this as well.

I was on the bus on Lothian Road this morning and there was a part of the pavement roped off, a lot of people looking up towards a window and what looked like a hotel manager came running out. Couldn't see much but about 5 minutes later saw ambulances and Police cars belting along in that direction. Someone else said they saw a body in pretty bad shape.

Very sad.

[hibbill2002]

I passed there a few weeks ago and saw window cleaners outside the top floor windows, I wonder if its been 1 of them that's fell.

[MSK]

I passed there a few weeks ago and saw window cleaners outside the top floor windows, I wonder if its been 1 of them that's fell.http://deadlinescotland.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/caledonian-hilton-hotel-horror-at-five-star-edinburgh-suicide-shocker/

[hibbill2002]

http://deadlinescotland.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/caledonian-hilton-hotel-horror-at-five-star-edinburgh-suicide-shocker/
Poor lassie,:bitchy:
they were the windows I seen the guys cleaning, from the outside.

[Pete]

As a cabbie I spend the majority of my time on the Caledonian rank but I luckily didn't start until about nine that morning.
All I saw to start with was white sheets on the ground, lots of blood on one of the bollards, the private ambulance and what looked like lumps of fatty steak everywhere(after learning what had happened realised that was brain tissue).
There was also one of the baggage trolleys from the hotel.
Nobody at the rank knew for certain what had happened so we thought that one of the doormen, all who we know well, might have been involved in a road accident or something.

The striking thing was how it was all over in a matter of hours.

Two hours after it had happened they had one of those council mini-sweepers clearing the area.

Two hours after that the whole area was free again, the only indication that anything had happened was that the area was still soaking wet with the sweeper and someone had laid a single bunch of flowers.

Two hours after that the area was dry, the flowers were gone (probably nicked by jakies) and it's as if nothing had ever happened there. People were going about their business laughing and joking totally unaware of what had happened only hours ago on that very spot.

It's sad on so many levels and the whole experience of that day, watching that area go from the tragic gradually back to normal was one of the strangest of my life. I'm still trying to analyse it. It's as if her death was simply swept under the carpet by society which simply doesn't let something like this get in the way.

[heretoday]

As a cabbie I spend the majority of my time on the Caledonian rank but I luckily didn't start until about nine that morning.
All I saw to start with was white sheets on the ground, lots of blood on one of the bollards, the private ambulance and what looked like lumps of fatty steak everywhere(after learning what had happened realised that was brain tissue).
There was also one of the baggage trolleys from the hotel.
Nobody at the rank knew for certain what had happened so we thought that one of the doormen, all who we know well, might have been involved in a road accident or something.

The striking thing was how it was all over in a matter of hours.

Two hours after it had happened they had one of those council mini-sweepers clearing the area.

Two hours after that the whole area was free again, the only indication that anything had happened was that the area was still soaking wet with the sweeper and someone had laid a single bunch of flowers.

Two hours after that the area was dry, the flowers were gone (probably nicked by jakies) and it's as if nothing had ever happened there. People were going about their business laughing and joking totally unaware of what had happened only hours ago on that very spot.

It's sad on so many levels and the whole experience of that day, watching that area go from the tragic gradually back to normal was one of the strangest of my life. I'm still trying to analyse it. It's as if her death was simply swept under the carpet by society which simply doesn't let something like this get in the way.

Well yes. That is what happens in a city centre. There must be countless suicides in New York, LA etc and the city just gets on with it. Edinburgh isn't as big as those places but it's big enough and the same dynamic applies. If this had occurred in say Corstorphine or Portobello it would have been the topic of conversation for a significant length of time. It's a question of city versus town if that doesn't sound too cold.

I'm sorry you were upset.

[Pete]

Well yes. That is what happens in a city centre. There must be countless suicides in New York, LA etc and the city just gets on with it. Edinburgh isn't as big as those places but it's big enough and the same dynamic applies. If this had occurred in say Corstorphine or Portobello it would have been the topic of conversation for a significant length of time. It's a question of city versus town if that doesn't sound too cold.

I'm sorry you were upset.

I haven't lived in somewhere like New York or LA before so I didn't really know. I've heard about it happening second hand from those who have but this is Edinburgh where incidents like this are rare...especially in a location like this where it certainly isn't common.

I hope you weren't being patronising in your apology. I'm not as much upset as I am shocked by it as I spend a large chunk of my working life only several yards from that spot.

It does seem cold...but that's life I suppose.

[heretoday]

I haven't lived in somewhere like New York or LA before so I didn't really know. I've heard about it happening second hand from those who have but this is Edinburgh where incidents like this are rare...especially in a location like this where it certainly isn't common.

I hope you weren't being patronising in your apology. I'm not as much upset as I am shocked by it as I spend a large chunk of my working life only several yards from that spot.

It does seem cold...but that's life I suppose.

No, I wasn't being patronising.

[lapsedhibee]

It's as if her death was simply swept under the carpet by society which simply doesn't let something like this get in the way.

And thank goodness for that, too. I'm still not over the nauseating public festival that accompanied Diana Windsor's death. No-one on this board knew the woman who jumped (I presume). Of course it's a tragedy for her family and friends, but there's shirley no reason for the rest of Edinburgh to mourn? :dunno:

[Pete]

And thank goodness for that, too. I'm still not over the nauseating public festival that accompanied Diana Windsor's death. No-one on this board knew the woman who jumped (I presume). Of course it's a tragedy for her family and friends, but there's shirley no reason for the rest of Edinburgh to mourn? :dunno:

I wasn't suggesting that.

I witnessed the rest of the day unfold at that very spot and witnessed the change.

It just seemed bizzare to see such horrific scenes and then see no evidence of the events, or suggestion that anything had happened only a few hours later.

Just sharing my observations.

[NYHibby]

. No-one on this board knew the woman who jumped (I presume).

Never met her but she was a friend of a friend

[s.a.m]

I wasn't suggesting that.

I witnessed the rest of the day unfold at that very spot and witnessed the change.

It just seemed bizzare to see such horrific scenes and then see no evidence of the events, or suggestion that anything had happened only a few hours later.

Just sharing my observations.


I know what you mean - but is that not, to some extent, a result of the particular location she chose for her jump, rather than a wider social issue? The corner of Lothian Road is a very busy thoroughfare, and the population who use it are transient. There ARE some regulars - such as yourself, local shop-staff, the Big Issue seller, who will forever be touched by what happened, but ultimately you're not a regular community with any kind of shared experience. As someone else has said, in another location things may have been different.:dunno: Whichever way, it's a distressing and sad end to a short life.

[Phil D. Rolls]

As a cabbie I spend the majority of my time on the Caledonian rank but I luckily didn't start until about nine that morning.
All I saw to start with was white sheets on the ground, lots of blood on one of the bollards, the private ambulance and what looked like lumps of fatty steak everywhere(after learning what had happened realised that was brain tissue).
There was also one of the baggage trolleys from the hotel.
Nobody at the rank knew for certain what had happened so we thought that one of the doormen, all who we know well, might have been involved in a road accident or something.

The striking thing was how it was all over in a matter of hours.

Two hours after it had happened they had one of those council mini-sweepers clearing the area.

Two hours after that the whole area was free again, the only indication that anything had happened was that the area was still soaking wet with the sweeper and someone had laid a single bunch of flowers.

Two hours after that the area was dry, the flowers were gone (probably nicked by jakies) and it's as if nothing had ever happened there. People were going about their business laughing and joking totally unaware of what had happened only hours ago on that very spot.

It's sad on so many levels and the whole experience of that day, watching that area go from the tragic gradually back to normal was one of the strangest of my life. I'm still trying to analyse it. It's as if her death was simply swept under the carpet by society which simply doesn't let something like this get in the way.


I know what you mean - but is that not, to some extent, a result of the particular location she chose for her jump, rather than a wider social issue? The corner of Lothian Road is a very busy thoroughfare, and the population who use it are transient. There ARE some regulars - such as yourself, local shop-staff, the Big Issue seller, who will forever be touched by what happened, but ultimately you're not a regular community with any kind of shared experience. As someone else has said, in another location things may have been different.:dunno: Whichever way, it's a distressing and sad end to a short life.

I had to drive over the Forth Road bridge hours after someone I knew had jumped off it. If ever there was an example of life going on, that was it.

The traffic rolled on without a thought to what was in my mind. In fact it probably never stopped, even when the guy jumped.

The only people who knew about it were those connected to him, and the poor guys monitoring the bridges CCTV who must have to see and deal with this sort of thing a lot.

The fact is I couldn't avoid the bridge that day, I had to get home. I did have to revisit the next day, and have a long contemplative look from South Queensferry Harbour. That's when I realised my strange feelings were nothing to do with the bridge, but with what had happened.

It's not like death was a new thing to me. When you think about it, people die in hospitals all the time. Life goes on all around them, and - sometimes a very short distance away, babies are born.

For the family of the deceased, nothing will stop the pain they are feeling, and they walk through their own bubble in time.

The rest of us have to carry on, whatever our connection to the deceased. If we let in the pain of every death that affects us we wouldn't be able to function.

I hope that doesn't sound patronising or moralising. I just wanted to offload some reflections of my own that have surfaced as a result of this incident.

[Woody1985]

I had to drive over the Forth Road bridge hours after someone I knew had jumped off it. If ever there was an example of life going on, that was it.

The traffic rolled on without a thought to what was in my mind. In fact it probably never stopped, even when the guy jumped.

The only people who knew about it were those connected to him, and the poor guys monitoring the bridges CCTV who must have to see and deal with this sort of thing a lot.

The fact is I couldn't avoid the bridge that day, I had to get home. I did have to revisit the next day, and have a long contemplative look from South Queensferry Harbour. That's when I realised my strange feelings were nothing to do with the bridge, but with what had happened.

It's not like death was a new thing to me. When you think about it, people die in hospitals all the time. Life goes on all around them, and - sometimes a very short distance away, babies are born.

For the family of the deceased, nothing will stop the pain they are feeling, and they walk through their own bubble in time.

The rest of us have to carry on, whatever our connection to the deceased. If we let in the pain of every death that affects us we wouldn't be able to function.

I hope that doesn't sound patronising or moralising. I just wanted to offload some reflections of my own that have surfaced as a result of this incident.

Very touching FR and I understand what you mean completely.

A friend of mine died in an accident last year, he was 26 and I was 23. I have to pass his mum and dads house where he grew up every day at least twice as it's only 5 doors away. Our families are friends going back 20 odd years, maybe longer, and I'm mates with his dad/sisters and it still comes into my head every time I see them and has probably affected how I am towards them.

The home he lived in with his wife is in the next street to mine as well and it's strange because even now, 15 months since he passed I still think of him every time I walk down my street.

For the first few months after I was ****ed up, going on benders lasting for 4/5 days but had to snap out of it and eventually I did.

I know it's always said by those older than I that your mortality and others starts to play on your mind as you get older but I thought it would be a long while off for me before that kicked in but I'm acutely aware of it now. Strange.

[Borders Hibby]

I had to drive over the Forth Road bridge hours after someone I knew had jumped off it. If ever there was an example of life going on, that was it.

The traffic rolled on without a thought to what was in my mind. In fact it probably never stopped, even when the guy jumped.

The only people who knew about it were those connected to him, and the poor guys monitoring the bridges CCTV who must have to see and deal with this sort of thing a lot.

The fact is I couldn't avoid the bridge that day, I had to get home. I did have to revisit the next day, and have a long contemplative look from South Queensferry Harbour. That's when I realised my strange feelings were nothing to do with the bridge, but with what had happened.

It's not like death was a new thing to me. When you think about it, people die in hospitals all the time. Life goes on all around them, and - sometimes a very short distance away, babies are born.

For the family of the deceased, nothing will stop the pain they are feeling, and they walk through their own bubble in time.

The rest of us have to carry on, whatever our connection to the deceased. If we let in the pain of every death that affects us we wouldn't be able to function.

I hope that doesn't sound patronising or moralising. I just wanted to offload some reflections of my own that have surfaced as a result of this incident.

Very poignat and honest post. I think you are right, the important thing is to remember the dead but not let the pain stop us living. I feel for the poor women because in her own way she was in her own "bubble" of pain and couldnt communicate it as elegantly as you. We need to learn from this and be better at communicating hurt and loss or it will suck the life out of us. Not an easy balance.

[Woody1985]

Very poignat and honest post. I think you are right, the important thing is to remember the dead but not let the pain stop us living. I feel for the poor women because in her own way she was in her own "bubble" of pain and couldnt communicate it as elegantly as you. We need to learn from this and be better at communicating hurt and loss or it will suck the life out of us. Not an easy balance.

I agree.

You need to try and deal with these things without blocking them out completely because I'm of the opinion that once you start to detach your emotions from things like that then it can really screw with your head. Hopefully, that makes sense.

[Borders Hibby]

I agree.

You need to try and deal with these things without blocking them out completely because I'm of the opinion that once you start to detach your emotions from things like that then it can really screw with your head. Hopefully, that makes sense.

Spot on, covering things up never works, it saps energy slowly, and twists your gut and mind. Harder but better to face it rather than dodge it, then you do become detached from your emotions.