Work Stories: Episode 37: Sad Story

Previously on Work Stories, I told you about the time when I got followed to work by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.  Of course, it wasn’t the real people, but rather two gentlemen dressed as the famous musicians.  That’s what I wrote about last time.  Nothing too exciting.

This week’s Work Story… I forget what I was going to write about.  Give me one second to check what this week’s Work Story was going to be.  Ah yes.  That’s right.  It’s something that involves Niagara Falls more than just specifically my work experience in the city, but it still relates to my time at work.  This is a harrowing tale.  Alright, it’s not too harrowing.  But it is sad.  This is a sad story that I am a very small part of.  By very small, I mean that I witnessed something that happened after the fact but is still related to what happened.  Therefore, I’m going to include it in the Work Stories, however unrelated to work the actual story is.

At the museum that I work at, one of the things we do is hand out balloons to children on the street.  It sounds like something that isn’t fun.  In most cases, that is true.  Nobody wants to stand outside in the summer sun, baking from the heat, just to hand out some balloons.  It’s just part of the job.  We’re getting paid to do it, so we do it.

One day, while I was handing out balloons, I was talking to someone from another attraction.  I don’t remember what the conversation was about.  That isn’t important at all, though.  What is important is the thing that cut off the conversation.  While we were talking, sirens began to blare.  They got nearer and nearer until we saw police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances speed by.  They were headed down toward the river and the Niagara Falls.  Insensitively, I made the comment that someone probably ended up in the water.  The sad part is that it ended up being true.

Here’s the tale of what happened down near the Niagara Falls on that fateful summer day.  A 19 year old Japanese girl was visiting the area with her friends.  Like tourists always do, they were taking a lot of pictures.  One of their many photo ideas was for the girl to sit on the wall while they take her picture, with the Niagara Falls behind her.  She sat on the wall before the gorge.  She held her umbrella and posed for the photograph.  That was when a gust of wind picked up.  It caught the umbrella, and in turn her.  She went over the wall and that was the last time that anybody saw her alive.

Sadly, I was correct when I said that somebody ended up in the water.  A 19 year old Japanese girl lost her life that day.  All of the vehicles that I saw speed by my work that day were attempting to save her.  They never got the chance.

Over the few days following the event, rescue teams scoured the Niagara Gorge looking for the remains of the girl.  However, her body was not the first that was found during the search.  If I remember correctly, they first found the torso of a middle aged man.  Clearly, someone had been murdered and tossed down there.  Eventually they did find the body of the girl.  I don’t know if they ever found her umbrella.

It’s been two years since that happened.  Almost to the day, in fact.  I’ll never forget the night that it happened, or the week following it.  It was a big news week for the city of Niagara Falls.  We were horrified by what had happened.  We were shocked at every new piece of news surrounding the event.  I felt bad for making a joke.  I am sorry for that.

That’s the end of this week’s Work Story.  It’s a sad tale that makes me sad every time I think about it.  I’m sad for the girl, for her family, and for everyone that actually witnessed it.  I only witnessed the rescue vehicles heading to the area.  I know it’s not much of a Work Story, but it’s a story I felt like telling, all the same.  Next week, I might give you a story that isn’t so sad.

Until then, we’re all pretty bizarre.  Some of us are just better at hiding it.  That’s all.