Royal Prank Call Nurse 'Commits Suicide'

[fuji]

Oh for the love of God Fuji, can you possibly be any more obtuse?

I reject your attempts to trivialize and pigeonhole a suicide. People flat out do not commit suicide for simple reasons, they don't do it because of stress one day. Something was going on in her life, and it was a hell of a lot more complicated than a prank call. It either involved depression, or some sort of ongoing conflict or problem.

What you are attempting to do, in assigning "blame" to the phone call, is over simplify what absolutely cannot be a simple situation.

There's some importance in this for the people who carried out the prank. They didn't actually cause her death. They may have been over the line in terms of invasions of privacy and whatnot, but this woman was only incidentally related to all that. She wasn't the victim of the invasion of privacy. She was not even the person who divulged the personal information. She mistakenly transferred a phone call, and that was her ENTIRE involvement, until she killed herself.

All you know is that she transferred the phone call one day, and killed herself a few days later. Asserting that the phone call had ANYTHING to do with her suicide is a stretch to begin with, and again, if it DID have some involvement, it was only in a very peripheral way--one more straw piling up on the camel's back.

Supposing you go into a restaurant and you are grumpy, the waitress forgets your order, and you snap at her. Later on you learn she killed herself later that day. That really sucks for you, but it would be wrong of you to blame yourself for her suicide, and it is wrong of you to blame these radio people for this woman's, for the same reason.

 

[e3boy]

like i said, the child will be the anti-christ.

 

[msog87]

I would think the opposite. If she was well respected, being responsible for giving out private information to improperly identified individuals would be a huge blow, especially if she had a strong sense of duty. Added on top of that is the fact that it was royalty, which I don't personally understand...but then again, we're talking about England.

dude shes a unionized hospital employee whos as braindead as her colleagues believe me if it werent for other factors she would not have cared. Its not like she was considered the worlds greatest nurse and now she was being stripped of her title. The hospital is probably lying, remember it only happened a few days ago they probably didnt have time to start disciplinary procedures, im sure the royal family complained as well and are abunch of liars. nobody thought she'd kill herself, the only way I could see her killing herself is if she was facing discipline and even then shed have to be very mentally fragile.

 

[msog87]

in my hospital they will discipline you if you give out patient info to the wrong person, you will at least get a warning if a complaint is made. and believe me if it was a VIP and a fuss was made by them youd be in deep shit. it is an offense where they are free to terminate you if they want too.

 

[Aardvark154]

Fuji recall the saying:

"For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a nail."

As already stated none of this train of events would have occurred save for the telephone call. Hence that is where the responsiblity lies.

 

[buttercup]

The prank alone was harmless. It would not cause anyone to commit suicide.

And even if the nurse's response is disproportionate (as I said above) this remains a fraud and an invasion of privacy.

yes it was an invasion of privacy technically, fraud is abit of a stretch.

Now I don't think they should be either charged or sued (I don't think the outcome is reasonably forseeable) but there is evidence of a causal connection and I would never say they did nothing wrong.

Impersonating someone in order to be obtain information which was confidential to that person would amount to the crime of fraud.

If a crime is committed, and, during the commission of the crime, a person dies, and the fault for that person's death arose from the crime, the criminal can be charged with homicide. It's no good the criminal arguing that they didn't mean anyone to die, or it's the nurse's own fault that she died -- when you embark on a crime, it's your job to find out beforehand whether there is anybody around who might be harmed. It's not the victim's job to accommodate themselves to your criminal behaviour. If you commit the crime, be ready to do the time -- all of it.

 

[wigglee]

Maybe Danmand is right - without the monarchy this would have never happened.

maybe if the queen had a bit of a sense of humour , the lady wouldn't have felt so guilty that she killed herself. All we heard was " the queen was not at all amused!" The feeling is mutual, queenie....

 

[fuji]

As already stated none of this train of events would have occurred save for the telephone call. Hence that is where the responsiblity lies.

That is an idiotic viewpoint. Absolutely idiotic.

I take it you believe if you say hello to someone on the street, and that causes them to pause a moment, which causes them to be 1 minute later on their trip, which causes them to be in an accident, that it is all your fault.

Ludicrous!

 

[Ironhead]

And yet another reason to totally ignore the royal useless family(can they be more useless ?) pains in the ass.

 

[Aardvark154]

maybe if the queen had a bit of a sense of humour , the lady wouldn't have felt so guilty that she killed herself. All we heard was " the queen was not at all amused!" The feeling is mutual, queenie....

Spoken like you are a spokesman for a "Supermarket Tabloid."

 

[danmand]

That is an idiotic viewpoint. Absolutely idiotic.

I take it you believe if you say hello to someone on the street, and that causes them to pause a moment, which causes them to be 1 minute later on their trip, which causes them to be in an accident, that it is all your fault.

Ludicrous!

For once, Fuji is correct. Aardie's brain get mushy when the royals are even mentioned in his presence.

 

[Aardvark154]

Two of the better comments I've read about this episode come from The Sydney Morning Herald:

Wil Anderson, an Australian comedian, and former DJ on Austereo's Triple M radio network:


"'In this case, the first alarm bell should have been calling a pregnant woman who was sick in hospital, with a chance she could have lost her baby. That's when the grown-ups in the room should have said, 'Do we want to go ahead with this?'. . . .

At an Austereo meeting, the number one thing is often, 'Which prank or 'gotcha' calls are we going to do today?'. . . .'Personally, I hate prank calls and I didn't do them because I feel uncomfortable when everyone is laughing at one person – and that person doesn't know why.'"

And

Michael Idato in an Editorial:

"The King Edward VII hospital prank is not funny. It wasn't funny when it was played. Not for some hand-wringing sense of righteous judgment, but simply because one of its targets - a mother to be whose pregnancy was causing so much discomfort that she had to be hospitalised - was so vulnerable, and its effect - to have details of her medical condition broadcast on radio - was an appalling breach of privacy.

What holds a civilised society together is an understanding of action and consequence, a duty of care to each other that allows some elasticity for fair mischief and good humour, but does not contravene a handful of basic tenets: humanity, dignity, compassion, respect.

There is a lesson in all of this. Commercial radio, and perhaps the media at large, would do well to learn it."

 

[fuji]

Criticizing the show for the breach of privacy is fair, at least they are not stupidly blaming them for the suicide and associated lack of treatment, support, and care afforded the nurse.

The station has a history of privacy issues, having previously hooked an unwilling 14 year old girl to a lie detector and grilling her on air about her sexual history only to find out she was a rape victim.

 

[Don Draper]

Eerie parallels to this whole tragic event involving loss of life...

...I think we can see exactly how these DJ's are feeling right now.​

 

[blackrock13]

maybe if the queen had a bit of a sense of humour , the lady wouldn't have felt so guilty that she killed herself. All we heard was " the queen was not at all amused!" The feeling is mutual, queenie....

Really, that all we've heard? Keep up the good work. Read Aarties last post and see what others are saying about this prank gone wrong. You also might want to check the radio Facebook and see what the listeners think of the prank and it's result. They've had ot remove the more offensive postings, but even the remaining ones show how unamused some Aussies are.

 

[Aardvark154]

Fuji and Danmand there is no need to keep repeating myself. Proximate Cause (But for) is what is at play and the DJs and Station bear responsibility for their action. That said remarks such as that Mel Greig and Michael Christian deserve to die are ridiculously over the top and have no place in rational discussion.

 

[fuji]

Fuji and Danmand there is no need to keep repeating myself. Proximate Cause (But for) is what is at play and the DJs and Station bear responsibility for their action. That said remarks such as that Mel Greig and Michael Christian deserve to die are ridiculously over the top and have no place in rational discussion.

You can repeat yourself until you are blue in the face and your statements will still be ignorant and unhelpful. The proximate cause of her suicide is not publicly known, but is most likely a complex interpersonal issue involving mental illness.

A lot of things can trigger extreme and irrational behavior by mentally ill people, and that does not make the person who triggered it responsible for the extreme and irrational behavior, with the possible exception of those aware they are dealing with an ill person and/or who are in a position that gives them a duty of care. That certainly does not apply to someone dialing a hospital, even if there are other problems with the call.

Again, suicide is a serious issue the causes of which you are trivializing and misrepresenting. You are close to blaming suicides on any person who has ever created a stresser for a mentally ill individual, when in fact the illness is to blame, in all of its complexity.

 

[wigglee]

Really, that all we've heard? Keep up the good work. Read Aarties last post and see what others are saying about this prank gone wrong. You also might want to check the radio Facebook and see what the listeners think of the prank and it's result. They've had ot remove the more offensive postings, but even the remaining ones show how unamused some Aussies are.

I say man....don't spill your tea! Do we know anything of the private medical details that were supposedly revealed? All I heard was two bad British accents saying ridiculously un-royal things. To the extent that Blackrock and Aardvark and the Royal worshipping media have blown this story up way beyond its importance, you could all be held responsible for the woman's horror and guilt which resulted directly in her suicide.

 

[Aardvark154]

While I agree with RLD that the likelihood of a successful criminal prosecution related to the death of this poor nurse are not great, the likelihood of a successful civil suit is much greater. Further, there is frankly no doubt in my mind as the moral culpability of Mel Greig and Michael Christian and the radio station in her death.


Criminal prosecution related to the phone call is another matter.

 

[Aardvark154]

To the extent that Blackrock and Aardvark and the Royal worshipping media have blown this story up way beyond its importance. . . .

So is what you are saying that if the Obama's daughters were older and married, or for instance the Clinton's daughter were the patient this sort of behaviour would be acceptable, or that those you single out would find it acceptable merely because they are not members of the Royal Family?