Niagara Falls is one of the most visited waterfalls in the world and is best known for being the most powerful waterfall in North America and being based in two countries. The United States and Canada. However, what you may not know about Niagara Falls is how many individuals have lost their lives as a result of accidents at Niagra Falls. To uncover the tragic truth about the loss of life at Niagara Falls, simply continue reading to learn a few fascinating facts about Niagara Falls’s deaths.
Facts about Niagara Falls deaths:
Average deaths per year:
You may be horrified to learn that on average each year around 20 to 30 people lose their lives at Niagara Falls.
Most of the deaths are suicides:
The main reason why the deaths at Niagara Falls aren’t widely publicized in the media is that the majority of the deaths are suicides and authorities don’t want to encourage further individuals to take their lives at the falls.
Most of the tragic suicides that take place occur on the Canadian side of the falls:
Over half of the tragic suicides that take place at Niagara Falls each year occur on the Canadian side of Horseshoe Falls.
Recent deaths:
One recent death that took place at Niagara Falls this year, was the death of a 19-year-old student who had been declared missing, who jumped to her death after a breakup with her boyfriend. The young woman had rung her ex-boyfriend 66 times in a row and when he didn’t respond to her frenzied messages she sent him one last text message, that she was going to commit suicide.
Another death that took place at the falls this year was the death of a man who jumped over the barrier of the falls to take his life on the 20th of June, this year. After his jump, his body was soon recovered close to the Queenston Docks.
The story of a man who survived his first jump:
A man by the name of Kirk Jones first jumped off the falls in 2003 and made world headlines as he miraculously survived his first attempt to jump down Niagara Falls. However, Jones’ story doesn’t have a happy ending and in 2017 his body was recovered in Lake Ontario by a local fisherman. While the first time that Jones decided to jump off the falls, he was wearing regular clothes, in 2017 he chose to jump down the falls, in a giant inflatable ball. However, after witnesses saw him jump, the ball which he jumped in was retrieved without his body in it. Some experts believe that if he had remained inside the ball, he may have survived his death-defying jump.
The mystery behind this story is whether Kirk Jones was trying to commit suicide. The first time that he jumped from the falls in 2003, he claimed that he had attempted suicide but was happy that he survived and would never commit such a dangerous act again.
So if you’re horrified about the dark side of Niagara Falls, you may find it hard to look at the falls as a mere tourist attraction again. Knowing how many people have taken their lives at the falls.
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