Jonathan Reynolds, a 15-year-old in South Wales, UK, was killed by a train after he laid on the tracks to commit suicide in January 2006 because he had been bullied in school over his sexuality, an inquest heard last week. According to the Times Online, Reynolds had confided to a friend he was gay just weeks earlier.
The paper reports:
"Moments before he died, Jonathan Reynolds sent harrowing text messages to his family telling that them they were not to blame for what was about to happen. A passer-by saw him holding the mobile as he lay down on the tracks in front of a train travelling at 85mph (136km/h) through Pencoed railway station near Bridgend, South Wales.
In his last text message sent to his father, Mark, and his 14-year-old sister, Samantha, the teenager wrote: 'Tell everyone that this is for anybody who eva said anything bad about me, see I do have feelings too. Blame the people who were horrible and injust 2 me. This is because of them, I am human just like them. I hope they rot in hell 4 what they made me do. They know who they are.' He added: 'None of you blame urself mum, dad, Sam and the rest of my family. This is not because of you.'
A postmortem examination showed that Jonathan, who achieved a grade A in his GCSE Welsh oral exam on the day he died, had a blood-alcohol level three and a half times the legal limit for driving."
A man walking his dog was witness to Reynolds' final moments: “He had a mobile in his hand. I called out and said, ‘Get off the track’. He looked at me and just put his head back down and I saw him walking across the track. I was walking across the bridge and he was walking across the track and he seemed to lie down and the train came.”
I read this last night on Towleroad and started crying straight away. It brought back memories of my own time at school, when I was constantly bashed and bullied to the point where I attempted suicide twice. I'm one of the lucky ones. I survived. I feel like I should end this post on a hopeful note but I honestly can't think of anything to say that won't sound trite or simplistic, except to say that I wish Jonathan Reynolds had survived past high school to discover that things really do start to get better once you've put that particular experience behind you...Gay and Lesbian Switchboard telephone counselling: 03 9827 8544 (metropolitan area) or 1800 184 527 (Country Victoria).
Lifeline: 13 11 44
4 comments:
Oh Dear God!
I so wished after all the reforms and supposed lightening up of attitudes that have taken place since I was Jonathan's age that this just would not happen anymore.
That's a hard story to read, which makes me even more sad as it reflects on your own experiences.
Bullying is a huge problem in schools in the UK and the relaxation of the 'Section 28' laws, where information around homosexuality was not allowed to be taught in schools, has not made much difference when it comes to homophobic bullying. State schools are so old fashioned in their methods that it's no wonder thay can't recognise students who are targets for something like this.
that's absolutely horrifying...
it's sad that such things happen at all... the things he must have felt. :(
Thankyou for bringing this to my attention Richard. Like you were saying, the story got eaten up in the wake of far more attention grabbing headlines.
Really makes my own bullying experiences pale in comparison! I also wish he'd made it out of high school to see that there is real beauty in the world.
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