On Friday, Francisco Solomon Sanchez, who had tried to kill himself on at least ten separate occasions, finally managed to end his life by jumping into traffic from an overpass in California. Police say that the 41-year-old man jumped from the 210 freeway, and was hit by at least one car after his fall.

According to a Californian newspaper, Sanchez had jumped off, or threatened to jump off, overpasses and high places repeatedly in recent years. In 2003 he jumped off the very same overpass, where he broke both his ankles and ended up with prosthetic legs.

This is one of those stories where the suitable emotional response is tainted by an utterly inappropriate, yet inescapably humorous aspect. On the one hand, it is easy to recognise the deep tragedy in Sanchez’s complete disillusionment with life and his resultant loss of a will-to-live. And yet, one can’t help but see the comic side in the repeated attempts, and failure, to end his very own life, over which, theoretically, he should have had absolute control. It rings altogether Monty Pythonesque – for those who enjoy their humour dark, very dark.

At the very least, we can applaud his perseverance.

[Source: Huffington Post Los Angeles]