EDIT: Chen just posted a piece on Gawker stating that he is not the person behind Lucidending, and that his statement on Twitter was a joke. It looks like I was wrong, and I apologize for that. I’m not going to link to the Gawker piece because I still feel this is a pretty pathetic way to garner pageviews, but it appears that the only thing Mr. Chen is guilty of is being careless in a public forum. Once again, my apologies. Honestly, I’m glad it’s not true. The thought that Mr. Chen could steep so low was disheartening. I’m glad I was wrong.
On March 6th, a person on Reddit with the username “Lucidending” posted that he was going to die on Tuesday, the 8th. He had cancer, and was exercising Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act to die. The thread, referred to as an “AMA” (Ask Me Anything), became one of the most popular posts in the history of the site. As of this writing, there were 9,823 comments, most showing an abundance of support or compassion for Lucidending. People took the time to share stories of loved ones who had lost their lives to cancer, and others composed songs for the OP. People from as far away as India wrote in to lend their support. The story was carried by various news outlets, including USA Today.
The kicker? It was fake. Some people were suspicious when Lucidending said that he had been given the cocktail to end his life, and already had the I.V., so administering it would be easy. The Death With Dignity Act doesn’t allow for the drug to be taken intravenously. It has to be ingested either by mouth or feeding tube.
On March 8th, Gawker’s Adrian Chen wrote in his twitter feed, “I have a confession to make: I was lucidending.”
On February 4th, Mr. Chen posted a story about a woman who was soliciting donations for cancer research, and was accused of fraud by a fellow Redditor. She turned out to be legit. From his Twitter account, it seems that Lucidending was a prank to turn the tables on Reddit’s “hardheaded skepticism.”
Yup. Point made. The woman who was asking for donations used a personal PayPal account. I wouldn’t send money to her, either. Making up a story about someone with cancer who is going to kill themselves is a completely logical reaction to that. If you ever watched someone you love waste away in front of you, Mr. Chen, then you might have some idea how heartbreaking it is to read a post like Lucidending’s. I hope you never have the experience that makes you understand how heinous your prank was.
