Just Saying | Death by selfie: why are so many people dying so needlessly?
Yonden Lhatoo examines new research on selfie deaths around the world, and cites examples in Hong Kong of people risking life and limb to capture the ‘perfect’ moment with their smartphones
In between my sets at the gym recently, I watched a train wreck in slow motion as a trendy young woman in full make-up got on a treadmill to take selfies with her smartphone.
She was “jogging” at a snail’s pace, holding up her phone at experimental angles to capture the perfect duck face, when she missed her footing. The moving treadmill appeared to chew her up and spit her out, depositing her in a crumpled heap on the floor, while her phone landed several feet away.
Any initial concern I might have felt instantly dissipated when I saw her scramble to her feet and prioritise picking up her phone to inspect it – whether to check for damage or ascertain how that all-important selfie turned out, I couldn’t say.
What I can say is that mucking around on a moving treadmill was mind-numbingly stupid and she was lucky to end up bruising her ego more than her body. Even as I write this, people like her are regularly maiming or killing themselves elsewhere.
