Mom Learns Of Teen Son’s Death Via Facebook
A tragic case in Reno has forced Nevada school districts to examine their death notification policies. High school football player Ridge Barden died a few weeks ago due to bleeding of the brain caused by an on-field head injury. Police and school officials located contact information for the 16-year-old’s father and assumed that all family members were aware of what happened. Tragically, Jackie Barden, Ridge’s mother, only discovered that her son had died after reading a Facebook post.
“On Facebook, on the news, that’s how I had to learn of my son’s death,” she told a local ABC News affiliate. Jackie spent hours trying to find more information and was never contacted by police or representatives from her son’s school. ”We waited all the way up until the next day and still got no phone calls.” Because of the lapse in time, she was not able to go view her son’s body. Police Chief Dan Mack has publicly expressed regret for his department’s failure to attempt to notify both parents and has vowed to do so in the future and the local school superintendent emphasized the importance of divorced families ensuring that contact information for both parents is made available to the schools.
We can’t help but to wonder…even if the divorce between Ridge’s parents was a nasty one, why didn’t his father ensure that his mother was notified of his passing before it hit the news? However, considering the incredible speed of the internet, that may have been impossible.
A college friend of mine was killed in an accident last year and many of our classmates learned of his passing via Twitter and Facebook. I was lucky to have another friend who called me before I could discover what had happened that way and came over to tell me in person. Even still, seeing people Tweet “Who was he?” and getting texts from people who didn’t know we were good friends asking if I knew him was quite overwhelming…I cannot even begin to imagine what Jackie Barden went through finding out about her own son’s death in such a way.
Have you ever learned of a death or some other such tragedy via social media?
Bless her heart. I can’t even imagine… Just bless her heart.
Tragic!
Found out about Greg Giraldo’s death on Twitter. Honestly thought it was a joke, like the Bill Cosby Death Hoax, which has happened like a half-dozen times now.
I also found out about my sons death on facebook.I could probably guess that the first reaction this Mother had was–her heart did some flipps,she started to shake and just had to find out right away what was going on.On mine,i had a msg.from a girl telling me how sorry she was for my loss and that my son was no longer in pain.I felt anger right away also.Thinking it was a cruel joke.But it was not.Being my son lived on the other side of the country,i could’nt just jump on a plane to get to him.I text him,no response.I called his cell,no call back.I called a friend of his and left him a msg.Two hours later i get a call from the LA coroner varifieing the passing of my son.So devastating.Heartbreaking,he was so far away.My prayers for this Mother.RIP young ones.
Aww, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. What a tragedy. I wish you and Ms. Barden peace.
I learned of a cousin’s death via Facebook posts from a few of my other cousins. I contacted my father & sister and was then notified of my loved one’s earthly departure as a result of domestic violence. To make a horrible situation worse, her mother collapsed at the burial and died the next day.
Your post just broke my heart! Two deaths so close together. I wish your family peace.
Oh,How tragic for you dear.Bless and prayers be with you.