Austria: Well-known doctor commits suicide after harassment

[noname223]

Austrian doctor dies by suicide after months of death threats over public support of COVID vaccine

An Austrian doctor known for her public advocacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, and for drawing the ire of those opposed to the vaccination, has died by suicide.

www.washingtontimes.com

Austria mourns suicide of doctor targetted by anti-vaccine campaigners

ZURICH (Reuters) - Austrian leaders appealed for national unity after a doctor who faced death threats from anti-vaccination activists and coronavirus pandemic conspiracy theorists took her own life. "Let's put an end to this intimidation and fear mongering. Hate and intolerance have no place in...

www.swissinfo.ch

Sorry I cannot find better sources on English. Her case is big news in German media. I hope this thread is not too polarizing. But I could imagine it. Though I don't want to keep silent about her tragic fate.

She was pro-vaxx. I think she was an advocate for vaccinations. I don't know all the details. But seemingly she was a prominent pro-vaccination doctor in Austria. Not sure whether she really wanted to become famous. I think she had a Twitter account and many anti-vaxx people threatened her. Death threats etc. But she was also threatened in real life. She had to hire security to protect her staff at the pratice.

Seemingly some "patients" brought weapons to her practice to intimidate her. She spend over 100 k for the securtiy. But she went bankrupt over it. She went public in order to get help. She publicly said the police and justice does not care about her case. Seeminly one guy (not sure either a police man, politician or bureaucrat) responded publicly to her cry for help. He said this person only wants to get attention.

Yeah her dead body was found on Friday. It is such a tragedy. Really an heartbreaking story. It was a suicide.

There is now a debate in Austria about her case. Rest in Peace!

 

[Hope:-)]

That's awful. :-(

 

[LonelyandAlone]

She was still young, born in 1985, I googled her.

 

[Un-]

I have no place in politics, and even though I don't care about stuff like this, I will say that stuff like this boggles my head and makes me smirk. I don't understand how people can dehumanise other people based on political beliefs. Since when did fucking politics take preference over seeing another human being as just that - a human being?

I laugh at this shit because absolutely absurd. I think of murdering people every single day, and somehow I still have more understanding in me of other beliefs than the (apparent) average Joe. Not everyone's like this, but.. A large number of people ostracise other people just because of political opinion and nothing else.. Dipshits.

 

[Rational man]

Very sad storyline. We've had a spate of doctors ctb in UK in recent Years. They must be under tremendous pressure and then the pandemic arrived and now the cancer pandemic due to backlog.

 

[Ash’Girl]

You cannot state your opinion about anything on the internet without some sort of outcry / opposition. And it's so often devoid of civil and rational debate, instead resorting to death wishes.

In this case, because she was high profile enough to be able to have her location known to bullying fuckwits, it spilled over from just disagreeing with her views on the internet to actual threats / acts of violence and intimidation and for what? A difference of opinion?

Humans are shit.

 

[FuneralCry]

It really is so horrible what some people have to endure in life, so to me it's not surprising that so many people decide to ctb. To me, it's also so awful how cruel people can be and how they can make things so much worse for others. Rest in peace.

 

[noname223]

I have to comment on this one more time. My favorite German news magazine reconstructed her last months while she was alive. It was heartbreaking.
I could relate to this woman. How cynical life was for her. I have the feeling this report gave in some way her dignity back. There was also a similar report about a transwoman who self-immolated some months ago. Both of these women were ridiculed after their death on the internet.
This doctor was quite neurotic and she was bullied in school for being obese. I think she was quite anxious. I could relate to these 3 points very well.

Rest in peace!