Couple jump to their deaths because they cant afford health care

[babylonsister]

http://nypost.com/2017/07/28/couple-jumps-to-their-deaths-because-they-cant-afford-health-care/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow&sr_share=facebook

July 28, 2017 | 6:55am | Updated
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Couple jump to their deaths because they ‘can’t afford’ health care
A couple jumped to their death in Murray Hill early Friday. Seth Gottfried

Manhattan parents struggling to pay their doctors’ bills jumped to their deaths early Friday — leaving double suicide notes pleading that their two kids be cared for, a law enforcement source told The Post.


The bodies of the 53-year-old man and 50-year-old woman — who claimed they had had a “wonderful life” — were found in the middle of the street on 33rd Street between Park and Madison avenues in Murray Hill after the pair jumped from the 9th-floor window of a 17-story corner office building on Madison Avenue at about 5:45 a.m., police said.

The woman had a suicide note in her pocket that read, “in sum and substance, ‘Our kids are upstairs, please take care of them,’” the source said.

The man had a typed note in his pocket that began with “WE HAD A WONDERFUL LIFE.”

“Patricia and I had everything in life,” read the note, which touched on the couple’s “financial spiral” and how “we can not live with” the “financial reality.”

The source added that a line of the note contained words to the effect: “’We both have medical issues, we just can’t afford the health care.’”

The victims’ identities were not immediately released.

Area workers who witnessed the aftermath of the tragic incident were stunned.

“When I got here at 6:05 a.m., I walked by dead bodies on the ground,” said a woman who would only identify herself as Kazi, who works at the nearby 7-Eleven store.

“I was scared. I’ve never seen dead bodies before,” she said.
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Seth Gottfried

Another man who works at the building next door said when he heard police sirens, he looked out the window and saw the two bodies.

“Insane,” said the man, who identified himself as Harry.

The couple’s tragic deaths come at a time of national debate on health care reform.

[Mrs. Overall]

1. Oh my god.... no words for this tragedy.

[dalton99a]

2. So the kids have no parents

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. I wonder just how old the kids are.

And if either one is under 18 or so, I am genuinely horrified that they'd abandon their kids like this.

[Weekend Warrior]

4. So they forced 7-11 workers and others to see their deed.

Left their children without parents.

Blamed other for their own actions.

There is more to this.

[Nay]

7. Yes, there must be more to this. I'd like to know what sort of health

problems they had, and why they thought they would not get some sort of help, if only from the ER or low-cost clinics. I really don't think health care was this couple's problem.

And their poor kids -- I hope they are mostly grown up, because this will really damage them.

[Weekend Warrior]

8. He was a Dr.

He should have had access to valuable information.

[edhopper]

13. he was a Chiropracter

not a medical Dr.

[B2G]

14. Not a bad living.

How much does a Chiropractor in New York, NY make? The median annual Chiropractor salary in New York, NY is $171,128, as of June 28, 2017, with a range usually between $145,414-$235,908 not including bonus and benefit information and other factors that impact base pay.

http://www1.salary.com/NY/New-York/Chiropractor-salary.html

[edhopper]

15. Who knows?

I would think his income vs his expenses have something to do with it.

As others have sadi, there is more to this story.

[B2G]

16. Yep.

This type of murder/suicide would be very hard to detect. I assume investigators are going through their computers since the notes weren't hand written.

[Weekend Warrior]

17. I don't see where my statement was incorrect. Nt

[edhopper]

19. just making

a minor point about being a Dr.

[Weekend Warrior]

20. Yes, he is a Dr.

Good point.

[linuxman]

21. In the same way as Dr. Pepper is one, I suppose.

Chiropractors aren't physicians.

[edhopper]

25. Just not

Last edited Fri Jul 28, 2017, 03:42 PM - Edit history (1)

a medical one.

My brother is more of a Dr.

He has a PhD.

[Weekend Warrior]

28. You made me chuckle.

And congratulations to your brother. Becoming an MD is impressive.

[Borchkins]

29. I'm a Doctor.

I'm a J.D. Juris Doctor

[Stargazer99]

32. There is always more isn't it-blame the victim

Republican (so called family) values apply only if you are monied
Worse than animals....only animals feed on each other...
Recently Republican values are showing for how inhuman they really are despite the words they so easily use to trick those without critical thinking skills

[MineralMan]

5. A Sad Business, That Is...

[jehop61]

6. This is not tragedy

It is the selfishness of two people who were too full of cowardness to raise their children and figure out a way to fix their financial difficulties. You don't have to pay medical bills after all.

[cwydro]

9. Something very odd.

As others have said, I think there's more to this story.

[B2G]

10. He was a Chiropractor and they lived in downtown Manhattan.

They should have had options. Relocating to another areas for starters.

This seems off.

[procon]

11. These two couldn't cope with the loss of status, entitlement and privilege

that is attached to wealth. With a professional license they could have moved to anyplace in the country where the cost of living was better suited to their financial means and still made a comfortable living.

The hard truth is these people decided that their glitzy Manhattan lifestyle was more important than their children, or even life itself. Of all the options available to them, they took the low road and decided on a spectacular exit, abandoning their kids and burdening them with a lifetime of grief and guilt, and the putting their unresolved financial problems squarely in their laps. They were shallow, self-centered, and irresponsible people, and I have no sympathy to spare.

[B2G]

12. Well we can't rule out murder/suicide either.

That's a very real possibility.

[Weekend Warrior]

18. That was my thought.

But I think in that instance it's a little odd her letter was penned and his was typed. The other way around and I'd be more certain.

[B2G]

22. Women are just as capable of some evil shit.

I've watched enough Reelz TV to know that. Lol.

[Weekend Warrior]

24. Lol. Nt

[cwydro]

23. Sadly, I'm with you.

Something so weird about this, and I'm guessing you're right - it was finances that caused this.

[FM123]

26. Sad story, but my gut tells me that this is also an incomplete story.

[hamsterjill]

27. Just horrific

If the situation is as explained, the sadness and hopelessness that these two people must've felt is staggering. I don't want anyone to feel they have no other alternative than to die.

I feel badly for those left behind, and for those that witnessed the event.

Just awful all the way around.

[SharonClark]

30. More information...

NY POST: “Patricia and I had everything in life,” the man’s note read. But it also touched on the couple’s “financial spiral” and how “we can not live with” the “financial reality,” sources said.

A law enforcement source at the scene told The Post that authorities at first believed that the couple struggled with health care costs. But an NYPD spokesman said later that there was no mention of medical-cost struggles in the notes.

The couple was in debt, another source said.

NY Daily News: The couple, who had two children ages 19 and 20, lived in downtown Manhattan. Neighbors said the chiropractor, who had recently shuttered his office, was a regular presence at the restaurants and bars on the block.

What is clear is that the chiropractor was drowning in debt to the state and federal government, records show.
He owed roughly $213,000 to the feds and nearly $42,000 to the state in unpaid taxes that dated all the way back to 2003.

[B2G]

31. Your kids are technically adults.

You screwed them out of life insurance, SS benefits and any possible state intervention.

[TexasBushwhacker]

33. They also had a lien because he hadn't paid back his student loans

Both kids were in private colleges. They simply lived WAY beyond their means and now they've orphaned their children. Awful.