Sometimes the pain of life becomes too much to bear. The only way out, the only to slay the demons, the only way to end the pain is to end it all -- commit suicide.
Last night my wife and I watched one of our favorite TV program: Storm Chasers on The Discovery Channel. As is my wont, after the program ended, I had to race up to my computer to visit the Storm Chasers home page to satisfy more of my vicarious storm chasing fix. While motoring around the site, I happened to peek at the blurb for next week's episode. Here's how it reads:
Episode 4: Dedication
Premiere: Nov. 3 at 10 PM
Sean finally gives the reigns to his meteorologist and navigator Matt Hughes, who leads the team to their best tornado intercept ever. Then triumph turns to tragedy as Storm Chasers loses one of its own.
What do they mean by "loses one of its own?" Does someone walk off the set or, more ominously, does this suggest someone died?!
Well, I just HAD to know. So, I started surfing for the answer. Just as I found a link that mentioned that the allusion DID pertain to the unexpected death of a member of one of the chase teams, my brother called. We talked for nearly 2 hours and I was ready for bed after that. Still, I noted to myself that I needed to remember to resume my web search when I got up.
Of course, when I awoke this morning, I didn't remember what I had told myself the night before. As I headed downstairs, I heard my wife gasp. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Oh my goodness, I received a message on my FaceBook page that storm chaser Matt Hughes died in May," she replied. So, that is the death the blurb refers to.
After conducting a bit more web research, it looks like Matt's death was the result of suicide. All the official reports merely state he died in a hospital in Wichita, Kansas. No cause of death even is hinted at (which is not uncommon in cases of suicide). I learned from reading a few message boards that Hughes had battled depression all 30 years of his life and his friends/colleagues have indicated he died from complications of a suicide attempt.
These revelations have really left me in a funk. He was one of my favorite storm chasers on the show and, not unlike many people, I had grown attached to this face I watch on my TV screen. I will probably write a bit more later regarding my thoughts and observations on the issue of suicide (or I may not), but right now all I feel is a deep sadness that I'm unable to put into words.
When you think of someone being a professional storm chaser, you probably think of the danger and risk of life and limb involved in getting so close to tornados and hurricanes. But Storm Chaser Matt Hughes wasn’t the victim of mother nature when he passed away on May 26th. What happened to the team member featured on the National Geographic Show?
