Should've had a flashlight....

Sad story from a couple miles south of me.
Read the first line of the story.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_755849.php

Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Friend recounts step into darkness, death
Jennifer Lee Hashimoto, 35, fell 75 feet over a guardrail on a Santa Margarita Parkway bridge trying to pick up spilled items.

By JENNIFER MUIR
The Orange County Register

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Iris McGee suggested they get a flashlight.

A moment later, she watched in horror as her best friend disappeared into a dark void.

"I saw her go over the edge and I didn't hear anything for a while," McGee said. "And then finally I heard when she hit the ground."

McGee and Jennifer Lee Hashimoto had been standing on a Santa Margarita Parkway bridge Sunday night, trying to retrieve some lost belongings in the road, when Hashimoto jumped over a concrete guardrail onto what they thought was a walkway.

Hashimoto, 35, instead fell into the space between the eastbound and westbound lanes, and plunged 75 feet to her death onto the bed of Trabuco Creek.

"It was pitch black, so you would have no idea if it was just 2 feet deep or 3 feet," said McGee, 35. "Neither of us had the wildest concept in our mind that there would be nothing there."

Moments after Hashimoto fell, McGee started screaming her name and dialed 911.
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*EDIT* Article condensed to conform to CPF posting rules.

They require registration to see anything from the link.

I believe it's within the rules to quote part of an article, like say the first line...

I qouted the article. I hope I didn't break any rules.

It's really sad. I know the area and it's very dark with no moon out. Street lights illuminate the roadway but the contrast makes it very hard to see the creekbed below.

I had a co-worker do nearly the exact same thing. He was playing a pick-up game of basketbal at night on a public court on Milwaukee's east side. The ball went out of bounds and bounced over a fence. Because he could see grass and trees on the other side of the fence he assumed it was safe and vaulted the fence to go after the ball.

Unfortunately, the trees and grass was only a two foot wide strip before a concrete retaining wall that was the side of a 20 foot deep flood control culvert.

Ouch.

He was lucky, he only broke a leg in several places and was out of work for about two months. I haven't asked him lately, but he seems okay.

Sad story Jack, if she would have listened to her friend and got a flashlight she would still be here. It's so sad to think that she died trying to get some pillows, it sounds like she was such a nice person.

Alot of people think that we spend too much on flashlights, but how much is a human life worth? I think everyone should have at least one good flashlight.

Similar situation here in Raleigh a few weeks ago. A navy diver stopped to help at a vehicle accident on a busy road late at night. Thinking there was dirt over the side of the concrete barrier he vaulted the barrier and fell fifty feet onto the rocky bank of a creek below. 911 recieved a call from his cell phone right after the vehicle accident but the call adruptly ended and he wasn't discovered until two days later. I remember thinking if he had only had a flashlight or some light he might have been able to tell that he was jumping over the side of a bridge instead of a normal roadside barrier. It was really sad to think that all he was doing was trying to help someone else.

Look before you leap comes to mind also.

OMG! That is just horrible. What a sad story.

Lisa

I've read a few other "where a flashlight would have been useful" articles on CPF in my 18 months here, some related to emergency situations, some related to routine situations, but I'm realizing that the common thread is that many of these people would have been saved by the simplest, most basic of flashlights (as long as they were in working, operational condition). We're talking 2AA MiniMag or 2D alkaline $4 supermarket flashlights here, not our triple-digit-$$ lumen cannons. A 2AA MiniMag has gotten me out of sticky situations - perhaps not as well as my current EDC, but still more than good enough to make a difference.

It is a really sad story. My thoughts are with all of the people in the article. It's a reminder that every vehicle needs a working, useable flashlight... every PERSON needs a working flashlight.