To the Editor:
If your reporter John Maguire correctly quoted Lincoln County Commissioner Lynn Orne in a story about a Southport suicide, Ms. Orne needs some education. Commenting on an inexcusable delay in responding to a man jumping off a bridge, she said: “Certainly if this had been an accidental fall, seven minutes would have made a difference.” What does “accidental” have to do with responding to an emergency?
It appears that Ms. Orne needs to learn more about people who attempt to, and sometimes do end their own lives. We need to understand that individuals who try to kill themselves deserve all the help and healing we can provide. There is no shame in suicide, and it does not make the victim a criminal or in any way unworthy of respect.
Our society needs to be more compassionate and understanding, and provide better mental health services to those in need of them.
Newspapers, too, must play a role in this education. In 2008, The Lincoln County News declined to print an obituary of my son as written, because it said Joel “ended his life.” Instead the publisher insisted on “his life ended.”
Other newspapers printed the version that made it clear his death was intentional. Most suicides are hidden with words such as “died suddenly” or “died unexpectedly at home.” We all have a lot to learn.
Steve Cartwright
Waldoboro
