Colin Winklemann (February 26, 1976 – August 11, 2005) was a professional freestyle BMX rider and is the current (2000) World record holder for ‘Longest BMX Jump’. He rode for DK Bicycles[1], taking 2nd place in the 2002 Toronto LaRevolution Street contest.
He started riding as a young child in Okinawa, Japan where his father was stationed at a military base. It was in Japan where he first saw magazines and videos about BMX and freestyle and started trying to do some tricks. He was a fearless rider, attempting stunts such as jumping 116 feet over 13 Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles, for which he earned an entry into the Guinness Book of Records.
In July 2004, Colin attempted a stunt that involved a ramp mounted on the hood of a van that was driving toward him as he rode toward it. He failed in the attempt, suffering severe injuries, including breaking both ankles, fracturing a vertebra, and breaking several bones in his wrist. He also dislocated his ankle and right foot.
Immediately following the crash, Colin was rushed by ambulance to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore where he began a long rehabilitation. Following extensive surgery on his shattered ankles Colin was put in a stable situation, although it was unclear whether he would be able to ride again. 6 months on from the crash, he was able to walk unassisted, although notably with a limp. However despite this progress, Colin found his injuries and his inability to ride too distressing. On 9 August 2005, Colin committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust pipes of his motorbike in his garage at his home in Greenville, NC.[1]
[/quote]
Am I the only one who thinks the guys a coward? (sorry if that sounds a little harsh, I dont HATE the guy or am trying to be a complete dick)
Suicide in no way shape or form is forgivable or excusable in my opinion, I have a few friends that have commited suicide, and while I miss them a lot, I cant help but think how selfish they were to leave everyone who loved/respected them there to ask questions.
I don’t care HOW hard life gets, unless your a vegetable or can barely wipe your own ass, there is absolutely no reason to end your life. From the sounds of it this guy was making a good recovery, unsure about weather or not he would ride again but he was walking.
There have been people in sports/with hobbys that have gotten injured and can no longer do the things they love, but they find ways to adapt.
While I haven’t been through an injury like him that prevented me from doing something I love, but myself and quite a few other people I know have been through some very hard times in life, tims where it felt like you had NOTHING left, like you’re a walking shell. Sure you may ask yourself why am I even here, but there is ALWAYS something to live for.
You can play the devils advocate here all you want vlad, but there is NO reason to end your life ESPECIALLY when you’re on the road to recovery like he was. If he was stuck in a wheel chair with a drool rag I could somewhat understand it. To be honest, is some situation I agree with what someone like Dr Kavorikan was doing, but in a situation like his, i think its selfish and cowardly.
I’m sure he put a bit more thought into it then you did and there are circumstances we are just not aware of. Just cause he was on his way to recovery doesn’t mean that he would ever recover fully and be as good as he was. Then he would feel trapped in his own crippled body teasing him by allowing to ride but nowhere near the skill level he was.
Selfish? Cowardly? You really need to get your head straight, you have absolutely no idea what the poor guy has been through and the shit he endured and you dare call him a coward.
I’m sorry but a guy who dares to do what no other man would ever do and breaks world records for longest jump is no coward.
This is not some religious belief or anything, this is MY OPINION
Killing yourself, leaving your friends and family in shambles because you couldent ride a bike to the best of your abilities again? Thats selfish and cowardly, youd rather abandon everything and everyone throughout your entire life because you can’t find a way to man up and deal with something that you yourself caused? You hurt yourself doing what you love, but you find a way to live with it, you find a way to still enjoy what you love even if it means you can’t do it 100%. There are so many people who have disabilities WAY worse than him that still find ways to cope even if its not like it used to be.
Regardless of not being able to be the performer he was, there is way more than life to that, and for him to not to try and make something more of his life than just riding is ignorant and dumb. Maybe he diden’t know anything else, but he dident stick around long enough to find out.
Also, just because he did these “amazing” things doesn’t mean hes not a coward. Just because he looked death/fear in the face on a bike and had world records etc does not mean he is not a coward.
I don’t think you realize how difficult and painful physical recovery process is, and in the meantime you’re putting everything you’ve got just for the rest of your life to be trapped in a broken body with painful memories of being a world leader, record holder and that being the only thing you know since you were a kid.
Albert Camus famously posited, “The only true philosophical question is whether life is worth living.”
Tell me Shady, what makes your life worth living? What would it be if those things were gone? All of them?
This guy has arguably lived more in his short time span than many will do in their lifetime. He faced death, our biggest fear as we all try to stay alive on multiple occasions and you’re judging him by calling him a coward?
Try living a life where all you know is pain, Day in day out, depression, sad future, would you be man enough to go on? Who are you to say it would have been a blessing for him to keep on living? What if the only life you know is hell?
Sometimes you just amaze me with how shallow minded you are.
leaving your friends and family in shambles because you couldent ride a bike to the best of your abilities again? Thats selfish and cowardly,
It’s selfish and cowardly for the family members and friends to want someone to keep living in hell just so they have the safety mindset of him “being there”.
You know how people put the dog down that is so sick that you know it’s life is a misery. Well it’s not legal to do with humans so sometimes one has to do what nobody else will.
Also vlad that was a link to gizmodo not a suicide note.
Also, a suicide note is nothing more to me than a last minute comforting piece of bullshit someone writes to try and justify what they are doing to the rest of the world to make themselves feel better before the string up the noose or however they go about it.
Vlad, im not going to even bother trying to butt heads about this anymore. We have two WAYYY differant perspectives on it, we both think ours is right, its not going to go anywhere or come to a conclusion.
I’m gonna go with the fact that suicide is a pussy way out. As far as where this started, it is in fact a damn shame that not a single person loved him enough to pick up on it and talk to him or just be there.
But sometimes when a person is that depressed, there is not stopping them.
