UK teenager 'saved by Facebook'

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

A British teenager who took a drugs overdose has been saved after the American girl he was chatting to online raised the alarm.

The 16-year-old boy from Oxfordshire had sent her a message suggesting he intended to commit suicide.

Although she did not know where he lived, calls via the White House and the British Embassy enabled Abingdon police to save the boy's life.

The boy, who has not been named, made a full recovery after hospital treatment.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7983725.stm

[Bicoastal]

1. Many, though not all suicides, WANT to be saved.

Often, they will tell people around them (or even complete strangers in this case) they are going to do it in so many words--then they will hope for intervention. It's part of the "story" that they're building around their suicide, because they're romanticizing their own depression--especially young people.

But good for the American girl--she did the right thing. God for the White House, too--I didn't know they could do that!

[trthnd4jstc]

2. Brotherly and Sisterly Love Can Help Humanity. Sometime We Merely Need To Know We Are Not Alone. nt

[mackerel]

3. Good to see that Facebook helped this guy.

Fatty Cisco stories are funny but after awhile good news is needed.

[silverojo]

4. If it'd been the Bush White House, the kid would be dead now - n/t

[PhillyQuaker]

6. Amazing

The miracle of friendship! Even if the two of you have never met. I read all kinds of criticism about people calling people their friends, even if they have only met online. This young lady is a true friend. Many thanks to all involved for helping this young man.

[DS1]

5. I'm sadly amazed that the system worked that fast

btw, Osama Bin Laden determined to attack inside the United States!