Ask.fm concerns - RIP Hannah Smith

Hello there, buddies.

I want to start this post off by saying RIP Hannah Smith. Hannah was only 14 when she took her own life last week. 

Just as a warning to my readers, if there are any comments of a negative kind surrounding this matter you will be reported and blocked. Suicide is a very serious matter and I want no negative comments surrounding this at all.

Hannah was bullied online by people using the website ask.fm. For all of you who do not know what ask.fm is, it is a website where people can sign up and ask others questions and post comments to people. There is the option to ask questions anonymously so that you cannot be identified. The site is extremely controversial and is based in Latvia. Ask.fm have issued a statement saying that they are not responsible for the content posted and that they do not monitor what is posted. This is a discussion point I shall move on to later.

Hannah, who was from Leicestershire, hanged herself due to comments posted on this website last Friday. She indirectly called for help by posting an image saying "You think you want to die, but in reality you want to be saved" on a social media site on Thursday, the day before she took her own life. 

Hannah's father posted this message on his Facebook page:

"On Friday morning my daughter was found hanged. Last night I seen her ask fm account and someone had been telling her to die. The person that created this web site should be done for manslaughter  (sic.) any parents that have children please dont (sic) let them go on this site"

"My heart is broken in 2 and is gonna take a long time to repair I just hope that none of you have to go through the pain Im goin through rite now and love u all (sic)"

I personally find this so heartbreaking. The father also posted an image of flowers that had been placed outside Hannah's house.

The Leicestershire police have seized both her phone and her laptop to be used in the investigation. 

Various messages have been posted on Facebook by her friends, boyfriend and family saying how shocked and saddened they are at her sudden death. I will not be posting these messages on here out of respect for the involved people and to not further show their identity.

This is not the first time that a teenager has taken their own life over comments made on this website. Two girls ages 15 and 13, and a boy aged 15 have also taken their own lives due to these awful comments.

There has been a tribute page set up for the teenager online which currently has over 6000 supporters; both of friends and strangers offering their support.

Hannah received some incredibly horrible comments on her ask.fm page where people called her a variety of awful names and many told her to kill herself or to die. Someone even told her that her uncle deserved cancer and to die. This is completely unacceptable and no one ever deserves anything like that whatsoever. There were many comments on her page, of which I will not be mentioning on here due to the incredibly harsh nature of them. 

All of the comments posted to Hannah's page were all done by an individual, or group of individuals, anonymously so their identities could not be traced. This I find highly pathetic. How can someone say things like that to a person online and feel nothing for what they have said? Ask.fm, along with many other social media sites, allows people to use the internet as a mask and hide behind it. They feel big and clever on the internet when they think they are unidentifiable. I hope for Hannah's sake that the vile humans who posted these comments to her page are traced and charged for her death. I do not even care how old they are, things like this should be completely intolerable.

I have a strong hate for this website, which has now only been deepened since hearing about this. Ask.fm is a website which simply fuels hate and pretty much no good ever comes out from it. Hannah was tormented for pretty much every aspect of her life, seemingly by people who knew her, due to this website. Frankly I agree with her father, Dave, in that either the creators of the website or the people who wrote the comments should be charged with her death. Many people will probably argue against this, but there is a rule in law called the 'but for' test. This means that but for the actions, the result would not have occurred. This definitely applies here - but for Hannah taking to this website and receiving these comments, she would not have been driven to taking her own life. Now all you awful people out there who are thinking that it is "her fault" I ask you this: do you sign up for a website expecting to be hauled this huge amount of vile abuse? No. You do not. How would you feel if this was your child? I am telling you, even I feel absolutely helpless after reading this case.

 I will go out of my way to get this site taken down if I have to. No one should ever suffer the amount she did, nor should they receive the hurtful and vile comments that were sent to Hannah. The sheer fact that she was affected so much by the comments to the extent that she took her life should prove that this website is completely vile. 

I believe this calls for an extreme crackdown on bullying and cyber bullying. Although it is probably an unsolvable situation, there can be things done to lessen it, and to protect vulnerable young people. 

RIP, Hannah.

I ask you to share this post and to sign this petition by clicking here to ban the Ask.fm site to prevent further deaths.

Thank you.

Toodle-oo.

Bloglovin' - Twitter - Tumblr - YouTube - Google+ - Instagram

The reason behind the death of Cory Monteith

I yet again have the unfortunate job of revealing to you more details surrounding the cause of death of the Glee star.

The will be a very quick and simply informative post.

After the autopsy was fast-tracked through the system, it has been reported that a cause of death has been established.

The coroner found that Cory died of a fatal combination of alcohol and heroin. Despite the actor coming out of rehab and staying sober, it was reported that he lead something of a double life. He reportedly was a hard-worker whilst in LA, but as soon as he returned to Vancouver he associated with friends who fueled his addictions.

After a report suggested that drugs were not a reason behind his death, the toxicology report clearly stated otherwise. It has now been reported that evidence of drugs usage was evident in the room.

The investigation is continuing into the tragic death of the 31 year old actor, with more details to follow.

His co-star girlfriend released a statement on Sunday asking for privacy and close sources said that she is devastated and inconsolable.

Glee officials are still unaware how they will deal with the death of the star in the TV series, but are organising meetings to discuss it. It is undoubted that Cory's death will have a huge impact on the show, leaving a massive gap where he used to stand. 

Even as a fan, I found his death very upsetting. There will no doubt be something missing when the awkward but unbelievable cute Finn Hudson doesn't appear in the new series of Glee, set to debut in the USA in September.

Bloglovin' - Twitter - Tumblr - YouTube - Google+ - Instagram

RIP Cory Monteith

It is with a saddened heart that I learned today of the death of Glee star Cory Monteith. 

The 31 year old was found in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver, Canada.

Cory has only just come out of rehab, yet it is still unaware of whether this is a drugs-related death. An autopsy will be conducted tomorrow (Monday) to determine the cause of death (I shall keep you posted with updates), but it is said that no foul play is involved.

Monteith, who played the character of Finn Hudson in the hit TV show Glee, was dating co-star Lea Michele. 

Hundreds of tributed have been piling in on Twitter from fans, friends and celebrities. Monteith's co-star Mark Salling responded to the news this morning with a simple but heartbreaking "no".

The news spread over Twitter this morning and currently several hashtags are trending worldwide:
#AllFandomsHereToSupportGleeks
#RipCoryMonteith
#StayStrongLea
#Finn
#Gleeks
#DontStopBelieving 

I myself was awoken this morning by a text from a friend alerting me of the news. I most definitely did not believe it at first and it has taken until now, having read about 40 news articles for it to actually settle in.

A lot of you will be thinking "why are you so upset over this? You didn't even know him". Well to you people I say this:

When you are a dedicated member of a fandom (the Glee fandom naming their members Gleeks) you do tend to form an emotional attachment to characters and actors. Whether you view this as weird or not, a part of something you love is now missing. Glee will never be the same without Cory in it. Waking up this morning to find that a vital part of one of your most favourite things is missing is really hard. A lot of people are going through the same thing this morning, some such as family, friends and co-stars of Cory will obviously be considerably more upset. The Glee fandom will now, and forever will be, missing one of its most important links. Cory will not be forgotten. Many fandoms around the world have come together this morning in support of Gleeks and the family are friends of Cory. Many have started a trend on Twitter called #MentionYourIdolToTellThemYouLoveThem after many Gleeks have posted images such as these:

My thoughts go out to Lea Michele who has to deal with everything. After writing and rewriting something regarding her, I found a Twitter image which explains it all perfectly.

Glee is currently up for a Teen Choice Award, so please do go vote for them by clicking HERE in memory of Cory.


Now all that is left to say is that my thoughts really do go out to his family, friends and especially to Lea. They have to unshakable support of the fandom, and of everyone.

RIP Cory Monteith x

Bloglovin' - Twitter - Tumblr - YouTube - Google+ - Instagram

RIP to the 19 firefighters killed in Arizona

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the fire in Arizona, USA which has claimed the lives of 19 firefighters.

The fire started after a lightning storm on Friday (June 28) in Arizona, USA as has so far destroyed 8400 acres of land. Approximately 1000 people have had to vacate their homes, and 200 houses have been claimed by the fire.

I have left it a few days since the news broke to write this post as I am still finding it very difficult to write.

My heart really goes out to the families of the firefighters who have died in this fire. As a daughter of a UK firefighter, I know how scary it can be when they go off to a call, but I cannot even begin to comprehend the pain and emotion these families are going through at the moment. Some of these men are so unbelievably young; they didn't get the chance to even start their lives properly. 

I read an article today on the Daily Mail website about the last conversation between Juliann Ashcraft and her husband who was attending to the fire, Andrew Ashcraft. I hope that she would not mind me writing this post. Her husband had been continuously texting her throughout the day to inform her that he was OK, until he stopped texting. I won't lie, I was in tears after reading that article. He leaves behind 4 young children. I am refraining from putting pictures of her and her family up on my website as I believe this would be a breach of their privacy, and I would not want to affect them at this sad time. You can read more about her story by clicking here.

Each of the men who died in this fire, in my opinion, died heroes. Now you may dispute this, but I think anyone, no matter how little someone may think their existence may be, is a hero when they put their lives on the line daily in order to save the life of someone else. These men were trying to extinguish a fire, despite being caused naturally, was destroying the lives of thousands of people. It is completely unarguable in my head that these men did absolutely everything they could to keep the residents of the Arizonian town safe, I find it very sad that in this circumstance that it then involved them losing their own lives.

The emergency shelters that the men had put up in order to protect them from the fires unfortunately did not save them from the fire, nor could the helicopters. It has been reported that when the bodies of the men were found, some where inside their shelters whilst others were outside, suggesting that the fire has overcome them very quickly.

This has been the biggest incident claiming the lives of firefighters since 9/11, and is the deadliest blaze for firefighters in America for almost 80 years. The entire crew for this city was claimed by this fire, apart from one survivor who is in a critical condition.

To anyone who wishes to say that the firefighters must have been in the wrong (I have seen several comments surface on the internet saying this), I would like to say that firefighters are trained to the highest of standards, and they were undoubtedly following the safety protocol here, and that is was the unpredictability of the fire which in fact claimed their lives.

Fire Chief Dan Fraijo has been quoted saying "we grieve for the family. We grieve for the department. We grieve for the city. We're devastated. We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet".

Residents of the town have been since laying down tributes and flowers outside the gates of the fire station since the news broke on Monday. I sincerely hope, for the memory of these men, that they are rewarded for their bravery in some way. These men deserve the highest of commendation for their sacrifice. I don't care what anyone else says, they really do deserve that.

Over 1000 people gathered on Monday night in the gymnasium of the university in Prescott, Arizona in memory of the 19. President Obama has called the men heroes, and has since deployed other crews to help as the fire still continues to burn.

Here are the names of the 19 men who were killed:
Andrew Ashcraft - 29
Robert Caldwell - 23
Travis Carter - 31
Dustin Deford - 24
Christopher MacKenzie - 30
Eric Marsh - 43
Grant McKee - 21
Sean Misner - 26
Scott Norris - 28
Wade Parker - 22
John Percin - 24
Anthony Rose - 23
Jesse Steed - 36
John Thurston - 32
Travis Turbyfill - 27
William Warneke - 25
Clayton Whitted - 28
Kevin Woyjeck - 21
Grant Zuppiger - 27

Writing so many names is horrible. I will not be putting pictures up of these men.

Reading and having to write about something like this makes me really appreciate the fact that after over 20 years in the fire service, I still have my dad safe and sound. I couldn't even tell you how scary it is every time I know my dad is out on a call, and there is always that horrible little voice in the back of your head saying "what if he doesn't come back?". Just thinking about that really gets to me, so knowing that these people are currently having to go through that is so heartbreaking. 

My thoughts are with the families affected by this. So many of the firefighters were so young too, which is really sad, many of them not even in to their late 20s. 

I know that firefighters knows when entering the profession that it is dangerous, but nothing can prepare anyone for this sort of thing. Fires on this scale are unpredictable and completely uncontrollable. I hope that the families are getting all the support that they need, and that someone honors these men in the highest possible way.

There are currently investigations under way to figure out what could have caused these deaths, and there have been suggestions of wind gusts being investigated. 

Approximately 250 firefighters are still battling the fire, and around 18 other hotshot crews have been deployed.

I welcome all comments on this post, but if there is one negative comment on here about these men or the circumstances you will be reported and blocked for the foreseeable future from this site.

Bloglovin' - Twitter - Tumblr - YouTube - Google+ - Instagram