Teenager Threatens Suicide On Twitter, Users’ Tweets Prevent Death

A Canadian teenager who threatened to kill herself over Twitter was convinced to reconsider her decision by other online users who read her tweet.

The unnamed girl, who lived in Calgary, Canada, posted the excruciating message, “I’m gonna attempt suicide tonight. Bye everyone. My last wishes are that my siblings finish school and become emergency responders.”

This post was read by people from across the world, one of whom was a Washington D.C. journalist by the name of Christopher Wiggins.

Wiggins remarked, “I happen to sympathise with people with depression because I’ve struggled with that kind of feeling myself. There’s nothing I can do that would make the situation worse other than to ignore it.”

After researching the girl’s previous tweets he came to the conclusion that she was in fact real, having earlier had his doubts, and found even more disturbing posts from her.

Wiggins then spent the rest of the night talking to the girl, who was only aged 17, after he contacted her online to try and help her through her problems.

Wiggins continued, “I began writing her with the simple question, ‘Are you okay?’ And I tried to engage her in a conversation and gain her trust to the point that I said, ‘If you need to talk, here’s my cell phone number’.”

The journalist then added, “I said, ‘The police are trying to look for you, you know they’re worried, a lot of people are worried about you’.”

After getting her number, Wiggins then called Calgary Police and asked for their help. Various other people also responded to the tweet to help the girl, asking them to contact them or call authorities for help. These came from across North America.

The teenager is now doing well, officers confirmed, however they refused to revealed any further details regarding the case.

Wiggins concluded by stating, “In this case, Twitter saved someone’s life period. Twitter allowed the police, the public and the media to work together and confirm… someone in need.”

[Image via Annette Shaff/Shutterstock]