Reply With Quotereally sad but I am not sure we have had the whole story yet
I bet these two are are feeling guilty now....
Thoughts to the family of the nurse who sadly took her life today
really sad but I am not sure we have had the whole story yet
I agree. It's very sad for all those involved but I think for a mother to commit suicide leaving her kids behind is just awful... There must have been more issues.Originally Posted by JohnW
Bizarre. Why on earth kill yourself over a prank?
I don't think the pranksters should feel bad.
This one really is sad. I'm a fairly cold hearted bugger who usually shrugs when bad things happen to other people on the news, but this seems to have affected me. A fairly innocent prank gone so wrong. Was her name public before today and getting press hassle? Had she been threatened with the sack? Was it an MI6 hit? What a waste. For me it's Kate's personal nurse that gave out the info that's in the wrong anyway not this one that just transferred the call. As had been said, maybe more to it, but still very sad with a husband and 2 kids.
Brighty
Once again, radio presenting dross have ruined lives with a stunt. When will they grow up? Sad business all round just to get a giggle. What losers they are. It's sick!
An interesting range of views on the 2day FM page on facebook....the radio station have have posted a statement and the last time I looked had over 3500 replies.
http://www.facebook.com/2DayFM?ref=ts&fref=ts
I know the presenters couldn't have foreseen that the receptionist would take such dramatic action but they or the lawyers that cleared the call to go ahead should've considered right from the point that they got put through to the nurse that they were potentially going to get this person in to trouble.
Why not?.....
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
This was bullying by the radio presenters, plain and simple. They put the nurse in a very difficult position, judging by her name she was not of UK birth and her English may not have been good enough to be sure it wasn't the Queen.
A stronger personality would have said "Sorry but I can't be sure you are who you say you are etc.' but not everyone is that strong.
People just don't think about the consequences of their actions.
You wouldn't feel bad?
They will feel bad...and they should. They should because they must have known that if their prank worked it would be highly public and that the poor hard working nurse would hardly walk away scot-free.
Some people would have been very shaken up by something like this.
This was quite a funny prank... a few days ago ;-(
It was never funny, it was moronic and selfish.
It was a funny prank when I was about 10 years old
Really?
Why was it funny?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
To clarify, what actually amused me was people thinking it sounded like HerMaj, or indeed that she might phone up herself.
Seems to me there must have been some crime committed here... can't quite work out yet though. Will be interesting to see if any arise after the dust settles ;-)
I would have thought it a mite early to be calling, 5-30 I think and surely , the queen would have a servant place the call and go through the data protection business ??
A bit of back-pedalling I think...
Where has it been reported that anybody thought it was the Queen?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Not the first time those two idiots have got into trouble: they talked some girl into admitting she'd been raped at 14.
Well, when the operator called her "Ma'am" (to rhyme with Jam) it was a bit of a clue...
That was them? Huh...
Just heard, freakin Aussies who have no respect to the our Royals. B@stards.
So was this fact, or is this media spin - where was this reported, other than the usual 'sources report' stuff?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Very sad but still.... she must have had some serious issues already before that prank. No completely sane person would end his/her life over such a thing...
Regards,
Al
I'm not sure that's true. Some people who are quite sane can be deeply affected by such things. World wide media mockery, thought of losing job...
Er, why? dotdot
It's their Royal family too.
So, let us get this clear.....
You play a prank that results in somebody killing themselves and you think this is ok and you fell no responsibiity ?
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Really??
.
I suppose the whole broadcast may have been faked on a soundstage in Nevada or something... or that both Kate and Wills are androids, so it is possible none of it was true - but hearing a woman say "could* I speak to my grand-daughter Kate?" followed by the person she was speaking to transferring her to the Queen's grand-daughter's room, and the nurse who answered calling her "ma'am" and giving details of treatment** you would only normally disclose to a relative is pretty suggestive that that those people believed it was the Queen.
Why do think this may not actually be the case?
*Not "may"... Australian education system must be worse than ours :-)
**Not that she should have disclosed any information really. It always bothers me that hospitals do this.
If the presenters did it purely for fun, then I don't see the problem. What I do have a problem with is that it was blown out of all proportion by the media, who are encouraged by their mindless customers, who seem to live for such pointless drivel (don't they have enough interesting going in their own lives FPS?). I mean, why is joe public interested in a random couple expecting a baby (royals, but again so what), or some medic discussing semi-confidential details of strangers over the phone - that should only be of interest for those involved (the hospital and the Royals). If the nurse was emotionally unstable, then those around her (friends, family, colleagues) should have been paying more attention, noticed and helped (surprised those medically trained colleagues didn't notice, probably too rushed off their feet).
I am frequently disappointed by how trivial some people's lives and thinking are. We could be capable of so much more, yet we achieve so very little.
You play an amusing prank, someone goes crazy/over-reacts and kills herself. No guilt whatsoever. Totally ridiculous over-reaction which couldn't possibly be anticipated.
Also, I wonder how it would impact on someone who took their duty very seriously, but who was duped in to revealing details of the treatment of someone in their care to the entire world...
If they were duped, then they were acting in good faith. Acting in good faith is pretty defensible, which makes the suicide even stranger.
Defensible in a llogical, legal sense I guess, but perhaps not to yourself.
Suicide if always strange, and often triggered by a single event that puts the other issues in peoples lives into a different light, but not always.
For this lady the sudden glare of global media could well have simply been too much for her, she could simply have been a very sensitive soul (hardly a bad quality in a nurse after all) and not "a crazy" as suggested in another post. She could simply have been overwhelmed by the whole thing. Those who are not in a dark place, or who have not spent time there, find it difficult to empathise with those who are struggling for a time. It's like suggesting all shell shocked soldiers should "man up" if you haven't been in their boots. Of course, she was not a soldier, she was a nurse and probably just one of life's kind and gentle people, wholly ill equipped for what happened to her due to the whim of a couple of "celebrity" DJ's wanting to brag about it.
Sorry...but while I don't believe in the world turning overly PC and us all wearing crash helmets to climb stairs, that's not the same in anyway as global media making fun of a totally innocent person out of the blue. Even if she acted in good faith SHE would have FELT awful. Simple really and they should be ashamed.
+1, Couple of morons to use someone in this way!
Couldnt be anticipated only because in this day and age no one has any respect for others.
I would feel guilty if I played a puerile prank that resulted in someone taking their life and leaving a husband and two kids.
It was a selfish and cruel prank whatever the outcome, a suicide just made it tragic.
Choosing to broadcast an individual's medical condition (princess or not) is morally corrupt and it was bloody obvious that there would be consequences for those duped, even if 'only' guilt or shame.
But not to worry hey, they got a laugh.
^ completely agree, the whole thing is very tragic indeed, even if she would not have killed herself she would most likely lose her job and become unemplyable in this country ruining her family prospects, kids education etc terrible.
Last edited by VDG; 8th December 2012 at 12:22.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
I note there's now quite a fuss Down Under because of this. The presenters have been taken off air though I doubt permanently.
It wasn't them. It was a couple of DJs from Melbourne. Mainly a moron by the name of Kyle Sandilands, and his side kick Jackie O (who was perhaps less to blame, but still part of it). Kyle has quickly become one of the most hated people in Oz.
I don't think the royal prank was terrible. They assumed nobody would buy it. It was so implausible and ridiculous that they never thought someone would believe it was actually the queen and charles on the phone. What is perhaps more appalling is the fact that the radio decided to air it after it was recorded. That was very stupid.
Perhaps the Aussies didn't realise how big a problem Depression is in this country.
It wasn't amusing, but other than that you're right.
Why on earth didn't a hospital which regularly treats the royals have a clear policy on dealing with ANY telephone enquiries?
Almost right, they are from Sydney not from Melbourne ... same despicable station.
Anyway, its really just an example of the state of commercial FM radio here (and particularly in Sydney were am and Fm radio are highly competitive, toxic environments in many ways): prank calls are bread and butter stuff. Its the culture of the station: what is the latest gimmick we can think of, its just all fun, lets exploit someone else for our own gain.
I've never understood it, prank calls always make me decidedly uncomfortable. Aren't psychopaths characterised by their lack of empathy? What is the least bit funny about other's mistakes/confusion/misunderstandings?
Apparently when done here to a local "victim", the station is saying they normally seek permission from the "victim" before broadcast. They decided permission wasn't necessary this time because the victim was not in Australia. Strange rationale ...
That's right, I stand corrected. I remember Jackie O was on Melbourne's Fox FM, but that was before she moved to 2Day in Sydney.
One thing I would say (and this is unfortunately from first-hand experience of losing someone close to suicide, and doing much research following), is that you can never really know the state of mind of a person who kills themself, but as the statement from The Samaritans says, there is rarely a single event that drives them to do it. In fact, getting over the "one event" issue is one of the hardest parts of coming to terms with the death of a loved one by suicide. There is no doubt that the presenters will feel utterly devastated by what happened (and rightly so if they have any kind of empathy/sympathy), but they were not to know that the nurse was obviously such a fragile personality. The public backlash is understandable, but unfair, and talks of prosecution are ridiculous. People have done far more cruel things to others, over longer periods of time, without suicide being the result. It is just another deeply tragic waste of a life.
Whether you find the "prank" funny or not, is a different matter. But that is the nature of humour.
Before it happened i said the station should be ashamed because the hospital was going to have to stop helping real callers without putting them through stupid security questions - great when your family is sick/dying - and the nurse might be disciplined under data protection law.
Negative outcome only unpredictable if you dont care enough to think about the other end of your funny prank... At all.
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