fruitsalad - // Being so much in the news at the moment, it got me thinking of someone, I knew, of, who jumped in front of a vehicle on a busy A road, it didnt kill him but he was left with life changing injuries … //
I remember clearly a discussion I had with a close friend over forty years ago, when we talked about suicide. He told me something which remains the most profound thing I have ever heard in my life, before or since, he said -
"Suicide is not about killing yourself, it's about killing the pain …" and that is the truest statement about it I have ever heard, or ever expect to hear.
Instantly, I understood the urge for violent death, such as your friend tried - it's about taking back control just one las time, of having a say in the way your mind is torturing you, and a final decisive means of dealing with it. You actually get chance to hit back at the pain, and destroy it, no going back.
Of course, your tragic friend - and others - have discovered that it may not actually pan out that way, but I sincerely believe that this was their intention at the time.