There are tons of times that learning something via Facebook is OK. When a friend you've lost touch with has a baby, that's fine. The name of Jessica Simpson's baby girl? Fine too. But the death of your own daughter? Most definitely NOT.
Cheryl Jones, 49, had spoken to her daughter Karla about an hour before she came across a status on Facebook saying, "RIP Karla." Apparently, Karla collapsed and died less than a mile from her home at a friend's apartment. After seeing the status, Cheryl immediately tried to call her daughter, and instead, a police officer at the scene of her daughter's death answered.
WHY wasn't she notified by the police sooner?! She's the next of kin, for crying out loud. That kind of delay is unforgivable, and the whole thing sounds nothing less than an absolutely horrible nightmare.
Can you even imagine losing your daughter and finding out online?!
A lot of people grieve using social networks, which is understandable. Sometimes, though, I get this vibe that it's all about who can post what first. I understand posting your sentiments online about someone that was a critical person in your life. But using sites like Facebook and Twitter to "break" a death announcement, well, that's just cruel.
I'm not saying that's what happened in this case. There is no way whoever posted that "RIP" status could have known whether or not Karla's mother was notified. However, what happened to Cheryl is something I wish upon absolutely no one.
I suppose this is just another instance of how many of us get SO MUCH of our news from the popular website these days. With that, though, comes the reality that you don't know what to expect when you check your newsfeed. It could be something as trivial as breaking celebrity relationship news or, in this case, a horrible nightmare. Most importantly, though, when the bad news comes, it's critical to disconnect and take time to deal with it in the real world instead of staying in staring at a dimly lit screen.
Can you even imagine?
Image via Emily Abbate
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Comments 54
i agree with
This also happened when my aunt and uncle were killed in a motorcycle accident just recently. It happened at 5 pm. At about 10 pm while going through facebook we saw someone who was at the scene of the accident had posted RIP Vance and Melissa Hawley. The next of kin wasn't even informed until 5 hours later?! Absolutely uncalled for. His children were devastated to learn of their parent's death this way.
If this happened, it's terrible, but are you sure this really happened? This sounds like an urban legend to me.
I see it as doesn't matter how you find out horrible n ews like that, its still hard as hell to deal with. She wouldnt have even known as soon as she did if she didnt go on facebook and see that post. She would have been unknowing of what happened to her daughter for a few hours more or a day. I would want to find out in anyway possible as long as i find out asap so I can go to my daughter and look upon her face one more time.
The Mom's pain must be unbearable. No parent should ever have to bury their child and a parent should NEVER find out about their childs death in this way. This is just so tragic.
Omg. This is so sad.