Someone that I never met just died

Liam McPoyle

I found out this morning someone that I never met died yesterday.

About 10 years ago I started posting on a horror movie forum. It was really small for a very niche subgenre and there were maybe 20/25 regular contributors so it had a really close knit feel to it.

There was no politics or religion allowed, just like minded people talking crap about horror movies and metal.

There was one guy posting called Angry Midget. He was about 18 and from Canada. As people got to "know" each other better he began to reveal details about him self. He was suffering with schizophrenia and on a number of occasions was hospitalised by his parents for self inflicted injuries, he was on heavy meds and when he stopped taking them it resulted in more episodes, more hospitalisation.

It turned out that he was struggling massively with his sexuality and was trans.

He disappeared from the forum for a while then a new member named Kim started posting.

She was a much happier person than AM was, enjoyed the same things as he did but seemed much more balanced, dare I say she found her place in the world.

Over the coming years the forum kept getting bombarded with bots to the point it where it was near unusable, coupled with the advent of Facebook it finally closed.

I remained friends with a number of the former members though not with Kim. We did however have mutual friends which is how I found out about her passing. The guy that told me doesn't know the details of what happened yet but given her past history of self harm, I fear the worst.

The point of this story, I don't know. I hadn't had any interaction with Kim in a number of years but when I heard it made me feel quite sad. I'm sure many of you can attest to the bonds of friendship that can build over the Internet and what a powerful tool it is.

Kim was accepted with absolutely zero judgement in the forum, got support when she needed it and talked absolute scutter when she needed it too.

So if you think someone is looking for attention on a forum, maybe its a cry for help, if you think someone is feeling down, ask them how there are.

We simply have no idea who is on the other side of the keyboard and what they are going through so a bit of common decency and humanity could genuinely mean the difference between someone making it through their day or making the ultimate choice.

Be nice to each other.

Peace out,

STN.

hairyprincess

Leave people happier than how you found them is my new maxim.

Sorry about your friend. Even though you never met and haven't been in contact for a time doesn't mean you won't feel a sense of loss.

LDN_Irish

When I first moved back to London in my teens I didn't know anyone and got quite in to an online game. It was quite a social one with lots of chat and clans etc. The regulars left over the years and got replaced by others as tends to happen. I went back on the forum a couple of years ago and one of my "friend's" brother (who also played) had put an RIP thread up for him. He'd been accidentally shot in the head in his garden by one of his best friends. I was quite upset about it.

Flint Fredstone

There used to be a guy in the soccer forum that behaved like a complete ass to anybody that disagreed with him, he's banned now but the only thing that would stop me from really ripping into him was that I genuinely felt he had serious issues. A total narcissist with a superiority complex but clearly mentally troubled in a more serious way.

MarkY91

Back in the nebo days as a young teen, I was friends with a girl from northern Ireland. We lost contact bit a few years later I seen on her nebo that she had died and her nebo was like a RIP message board to her from loved ones.

Made me sad as we did chat often for some time.

ChunkyLover54

So were Angry Midget and Kim the same person?

Calypso27

It definitely can affect you, you can have deep connections with people that you have met online even if you have never met them in reality. Sorry to hear about Kim passing Saul T. It's an odd feeling because you feel like you don't really have any right to be upset.

I joined a CF forum and I chatted a lot to people with Cf because we aren't supposed to meet in person due to cross infection. It was great to have people that understood what it was like but there were frequent enough RIP threads due to the condition and that was hard, some I was close to and others I wasn't but it felt like we were all going through similar things and you identify with people.

Liam McPoyle

ChunkyLover54 wrote: »

So were Angry Midget and Kim the same person?

Yes, she came out on the forum first.

Felix Jones is God

Had something like that happen to me, was friendly with an American couple who played the same online game as myself.
Got quite pally exchanged addresses and photos etc, and then one day her hubby went missing. Turns out he had PTSD and went into the woods and shot himself.
I'll admit it hit me harder than I ever expected, funny how you can form a bond with someone you've never physically met