We don't know why he did it, his friends aren't talking... maybe he was slipped something': Grief stricken parents of Burning Man fire victim speak out about their son, 41, who died after running into blazing effigy

The grief stricken parents of the man died at this year's Burning Man after running into a blazing effigy are speaking out about the horrific incident.
Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, was rescued from the flames of the festival's signature burning of a towering effigy Saturday but died after being airlifted to a hospital.
Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said the man ran through a human-chain of security officers at about 10.30pm Saturday during the burning of The Man event at the counter-culture festival.
The sheriff said he was rescued by firefighters and later died at the UC Davis hospital burn center in California.
His parents, who live in Oklahoma, described their son as a nature-loving athlete who cared about his health and was adventurous.
His father, Don Mitchell, said it was his son's first time attending the festival and that they have not been told exactly what happened.
'We really don't know what happened. His friends aren't talking,' he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Sunday night.

Pershing County Sheriff said in a statement Sunday night that rescuers had to leave Aaron because a section of the effigy was falling.
The statement read: 'Rescuers had to leave him to allow the structure to fall and provide for rescuer safety before they could go back into the flames to extract Aaron from the debris.'




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4851604/Heartbroken-parents-Burning-Man-fire-victim-speak-out.html

He had to be on drugs to do that. Something like Ketamine or LSD or those mad designer synthetics that make you go completely screwy.

+1

Haha...they are all on drugs at Burning Man.

That's horrible - reminds me of The Wicker Man.

Poor chap, and his poor parents.

The pictures are really disturbing. 
Its a horrible way to die, so sad for him and his family that he ended up like this.

Yeah, definitely drugs. What a way to die. Jeez.

St Darwin at work

I read a little article about this couple days ago... and I find it impossible to believe that anyone could have still been alive after being inside that fire for any more than 30-40 seconds or so...


Maybe he thought he'd be able to run quick enough through it and out the other side, and be ok...?

Why though, why throw himself into a fire, an extremely painful way to die.

I can't see drugs would make him want to do this tbh. Maybe he had a death wish or had mental health issues.

Thrill seekers do all sorts of crazy shit...


Maybe he thought that if he ran through it fast enough, then he would pop out the other side unscathed... bit like putting a finger quickly through a flame...?


And this could make him famous... and subsequently rich...?


Who knows...?


Time will tell...

magica wrote:Why though, why throw himself into a fire, an extremely painful way to die.

I can't see drugs would make him want to do this tbh. Maybe he had a death wish or had mental health issues.

People do things like when high. Depends on the drug. Remember that guy who ate the other guy's face when he was high on Angel Dust?

Raggamuffin wrote:That's horrible - reminds me of The Wicker Man.

Poor chap, and his poor parents.

I find this kind of event slightly disturbing. Like it's got a dark heart and things could (and do) go horribly wrong. Burning effigies always disturbs me...I don't like bonfire night where they burn a Guy Fawkes effigy. It smacks of sacrifices and witch burning.

There is definitely something collectively spiritual and primeval felt among people at large (music or other) festivals/events etc...


Can lead to strange happenings...


I was at Reading music festival once, where I experienced some unexplainable crowd based weird and wonderful spiritual strangeness...

HoratioTarr wrote:

magica wrote:Why though, why throw himself into a fire, an extremely painful way to die.

I can't see drugs would make him want to do this tbh. Maybe he had a death wish or had mental health issues.

People do things like when high.  Depends on the drug.   Remember that guy who ate the other guy's face when he was high on Angel Dust?

Yes I remember that. It's a horrible thing to take if it makes people act completely insane.

magica wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:

People do things like when high.  Depends on the drug.   Remember that guy who ate the other guy's face when he was high on Angel Dust?

Yes I remember that. It's a horrible thing to take if it makes people act completely insane.

I honestly don't believe he wanted to die. I don't think it was a suicide attempt. I think he was off his tits and thought he could run into the flames and out again. But he clearly tripped and fell, and that was that. The heat must have been indescribable.

Tommy Monk wrote:There is definitely something collectively spiritual and primeval felt among people at large (music or other) festivals/events etc...


Can lead to strange happenings...


I was at Reading music festival once, where I experienced some unexplainable crowd based weird and wonderful spiritual strangeness...

Do elaborate

Tommy Monk wrote:There is definitely something collectively spiritual and primeval felt among people at large (music or other) festivals/events etc...


Can lead to strange happenings...


I was at Reading music festival once, where I experienced some unexplainable crowd based weird and wonderful spiritual strangeness...

Yes the buzz of the crowd can really make your hairs stand on end! The vibe is amazing.

HoratioTarr wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:That's horrible - reminds me of The Wicker Man.

Poor chap, and his poor parents.

I find this kind of event slightly disturbing.   Like it's got a dark heart and things could (and do) go horribly wrong.  Burning effigies always disturbs me...I don't like bonfire night where they burn a Guy Fawkes effigy.   It smacks of sacrifices and witch burning.  

Yes, I agree - it's all a bit icky.

Original Quill wrote:Haha...they are all on drugs at Burning Man.

I always thought that drugs were the main reason for people to go to any "Burning Man" type festivals ?!?

I reckon that man's parents are quite self-delusional and in denial, if they want to believe their son was some cleanskin who needed someone else to "slip him something"..

eddie wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:
There is definitely something collectively spiritual and primeval felt among people at large (music or other) festivals/events etc...

Can lead to strange happenings...

I was at Reading music festival once, where I experienced some unexplainable crowd based weird and wonderful spiritual strangeness...

Yes the buzz of the crowd can really make your hairs stand on end! The vibe is amazing.

Slipping a little LSD, speed or Peyote into their stash wouldn't go astray, either  !!!

HoratioTarr wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:There is definitely something collectively spiritual and primeval felt among people at large (music or other) festivals/events etc...


Can lead to strange happenings...


I was at Reading music festival once, where I experienced some unexplainable crowd based weird and wonderful spiritual strangeness...

Do elaborate

Was in the crowd... System of a Down came on... I had never heard them before but they were really good, I was really loving the sounds... I'm sure you can imagine the feeling of being in a closely packed crowd, all tight knit, bodies all around you and crammed in together etc, and quite hot... I'm getting in to the music, closed my eyes while sort of looking upwards, arms up in the air, having a sort of euphoric rush... then after what could have been a few seconds or even minutes... I start to realise that I feel a bit distant from the rest of the crowd, I felt a bit colder and felt no other bodies bouncing around me...


As I open my eyes and start to look around... I find that I'm in a big empty circle that has opened up around me, with me in the centre of it with my arms in the air, and just 4-5 other bods running about around me and bouncing around off each other and off the wall of people on edge of circle, like pinballs... but all completely avoiding me...!


This happened another 2-3 times... with different people around me, as I had moved to different positions in crowd after each time it happened...!!!


Mental eh...!?

Tommy Monk wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:

Do elaborate

Was in the crowd... System of a Down came on... I had never heard them before but they were really good, I was really loving the sounds... I'm sure you can imagine the feeling of being in a closely packed crowd, all tight knit, bodies all around you and crammed in together etc, and quite hot... I'm getting in to the music, closed my eyes while sort of looking upwards, arms up in the air, having a sort of euphoric rush... then after what could have been a few seconds or even minutes... I start to realise that I feel a bit distant from the rest of the crowd, I felt a bit colder and felt no other bodies bouncing around me...


As I open my eyes and start to look around... I find that I'm in a big empty circle that has opened up around me, with me in the centre of it with my arms in the air, and just 4-5 other bods running about around me and bouncing around off each other and off the wall of people on edge of circle, like pinballs... but all completely avoiding me...!


This happened another 2-3 times... with different people around me, as I had moved to different positions in crowd after each time it happened...!!!


Mental eh...!?

I had an ex who could do that. He'd let one off and clear the dance floor, the dirty bastard!!!!

HoratioTarr wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:


Was in the crowd... System of a Down came on... I had never heard them before but they were really good, I was really loving the sounds... I'm sure you can imagine the feeling of being in a closely packed crowd, all tight knit, bodies all around you and crammed in together etc, and quite hot... I'm getting in to the music, closed my eyes while sort of looking upwards, arms up in the air, having a sort of euphoric rush... then after what could have been a few seconds or even minutes... I start to realise that I feel a bit distant from the rest of the crowd, I felt a bit colder and felt no other bodies bouncing around me...


As I open my eyes and start to look around... I find that I'm in a big empty circle that has opened up around me, with me in the centre of it with my arms in the air, and just 4-5 other bods running about around me and bouncing around off each other and off the wall of people on edge of circle, like pinballs... but all completely avoiding me...!


This happened another 2-3 times... with different people around me, as I had moved to different positions in crowd after each time it happened...!!!


Mental eh...!?

I had an ex who could do that.   He'd let one off and clear the dance floor, the dirty bastard!!!!

Trust you to spoil the mood.

Yes... that should have been posted on the 'sonic blast' thread...!

I thought it was hilarious. Fart-jokes always crack me up.

Well you are male...its a given. 

Syl wrote:Well you are male...its a given. 

I know, right?

Original Quill wrote:I thought it was hilarious.  Fart-jokes always crack me up.

It was no joke! He was master of the silent but deadly, and you'd see people drift away in a perfect 10 foot radius circle.

As I am often in a car with husband, son and two grandsons....who all have that inbuild male gene that finds fart jokes, and even farts hilarious....I tend to have a deep seated dread of them, with good reason.