A man has left behind several tapes after his suicide, raising speculations that this might be the first “13 Reasons Why” copycat suicide.
The man has been identified as 23-year-old Peruvian Franco Alonso Lazo Medrana, who worked as an industrial engineer. He allegedly jumped from the 4th floor of his apartment building after yelling, “I can’t stand a heartbreak,” while his mother looked on.
Although he survived the fall, Medrano was proclaimed dead at the San Juan de Dios hospital, where he was admitted to.
The news was first reported by news outlet Diario Clarín, who also said that police found 2 sets of suicide notes during investigations. One was addressed to someone named Claudia and another included a set of instructions. The former was a goodbye note wishing the receiver the best while the latter had names of people who allegedly caused his death.
Similar to “13 Reasons Why” fashion, those names were also selected to received tapes which Medrano previously recorded on his computer.
While there is no concrete proof that the deceased imitated the book-turned-TV-series, the style was extremely similar to the plot. In the show, the main character Hannah Baker committed suicide and sent recorded tapes to people who pushed her to make that decision.
Early last month, amidst concerns that the show glamourised suicide, Netflix announced that they would be adding disclaimers and warnings before the show plays.
They explained in their statement, “There has been a tremendous amount of discussion about our series, ’13 Reasons Why’. While many of our members find the show to be a valuable driver for starting an important conversation with their families, we have also heard concern from those who feel the series should carry additional advisories. Moving forward, we will add an additional viewer warning card before the 1st episode as an extra precaution for those about to start the series.”
There has also been talks for a 2nd season of “13 Reasons Why”.
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Source: People.
