dying before you hit the ground?

int

int

Soldato
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what causes the heart attack ?

Panic. Adrenaline levels rocket and your heart can't cope.

It's been proven in some studies of suicide jumpers that they underwent cardiac arrest during their free-fall. Whether or not it killed them is debatable.
 
Associate
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Wasnt this something to do with when you dream? From what i remember being told, If you have a dream where you are falling you will never hit the ground as your mind goes into shock and forces you to wake up. Its something to do with the brain being unable to process what will happen when you hit the ground. Also people have said that if you do actually manage to hit the ground it can cause you to have a heart attack as it a big shock to the system. Maybe you should try this next time you goto sleep try to dream about falling or jumping and see if you hit the ground. More safe to do than to actually jump off a building.
 
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If you fell out of a plane high enough, then passing out from lack of oxygen and/or extreme cold are certainly possible. Otherwise, probably not.

Sounds like the sort of thing Mythbusters might test, but falling to one's death is probably beyond their remit. :)
 
Man of Honour
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What about the (very few) people who have fallen a large distance and survived (such as into a tree)? Surely this proves it's simply an urban myth?
 
Soldato
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its probably rare that its immediatly fatal - in reality people probably live around 8 minutes on average after impact.

:confused:

8 minutes, huh?

Any particular reason you picked that number, or did you just follow the extremely scientific method of "yeah that sounds about right to me" (AKA pulled straight from my rectum)?
 
Soldato
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I read something once that said death from falling isn't caused by the first impact all the time, but rather when you 'bounce' and land again.

The first impact smashes your bones up but you tend to 'survive' it and then you bounce and when you impact again all your gizzards get punctured/smashed.

No idea how much truth there is to it though.
 
Soldato
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Wasnt this something to do with when you dream? From what i remember being told, If you have a dream where you are falling you will never hit the ground as your mind goes into shock and forces you to wake up. Its something to do with the brain being unable to process what will happen when you hit the ground. Also people have said that if you do actually manage to hit the ground it can cause you to have a heart attack as it a big shock to the system. Maybe you should try this next time you goto sleep try to dream about falling or jumping and see if you hit the ground. More safe to do than to actually jump off a building.

You just reminded me of a freaky dream i had, it was unlike others where you fall and wake up as this one i saw what happens next, while the death bit felt shocking what followed was something else, i can only really describe it as a black empty void which felt dimensionless and timeless, it was like i was stuck there forever but then i woke up. :eek:
 
Soldato
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I read something once that said death from falling isn't caused by the first impact all the time, but rather when you 'bounce' and land again.

The first impact smashes your bones up but you tend to 'survive' it and then you bounce and when you impact again all your gizzards get punctured/smashed.

No idea how much truth there is to it though.

Truth? Absolutely none at all.
Really, think about what happens, run through the process, if anything the sudden deceleration is one thing, ontop of the trauma and crushed organs/bones.
Yeah it's the "bounce".
 
Man of Honour
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I read something once that said death from falling isn't caused by the first impact all the time, but rather when you 'bounce' and land again.

The first impact smashes your bones up but you tend to 'survive' it and then you bounce and when you impact again all your gizzards get punctured/smashed.

No idea how much truth there is to it though.

Humans aren't bouncy. A human falling far enough onto a hard surface breaks and crumples or just splats if they're going fast enough. Maybe some bits will break off and maybe get thrown off a bit, but that's not really a bounce.
 
Soldato
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Sounds like the sort of thing Mythbusters might test, but falling to one's death is probably beyond their remit. :)


Mores the pity, id love to see both of them impact tested into concrete.

I used to like the program but the repeat rate on it out here drives me nuts, same program 7 days a week.
 
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People who jump off the suspension bridge here in Bristol (there was one recently) don't usually die from the the fall, they drown in the mud on the sides of the river, as happened with our most recent suicide. So technically he wasn't killed by the fall, as the emergency services were trying to reach him and he was still conscious at the beginning.
 
Soldato
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I was under the impression that a lot of jumpers (certainly off very high buildings) hit the side of the building on the way down and die because of that. But the human body can fall at terminal velocity with no risk of passing out etc.
 
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