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It's only nine seconds long, but it's a terrifying image that you cannot unsee. Yet somehow people believe the video of what may prove to be the final waking moments of the anguished teen's life is acceptable to share.
"Seems every child in the school systems of Fairview and Cliffside has seen this video in school today -- including my child and who knows how many others?" one upset parent said.
A group of students who had just left nearby Lincoln School are seen passing the Day Avenue building below the 13-year-old youngster on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 15.
She tosses down her jacket and cell phone, then climbs feet-first over the side and lets go of her grip.
It happened that fast.
A fourth-floor window sill upends the child, who hits the sidewalk feet first, suffering massive fractures and trauma.
Some kids run, others hurry from a situation that's all but impossible for many young minds to process.
The girl has remained at Hackensack University Medical Center in grave condition since then, responders said.
Major Crimes Unit investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Fairview Police Department gathered witnesses for questioning, including some of the classmates who were on the sidewalk at the time. They also collected video, including the clip that has been racing across the Internet.
Meanwhile, parents, their children and others continued trying to wrap their minds around what happened.
"The fact that my child saw it before I did leaves me confused and angry," the Fairview mom told Daily Voice on Thursday.
She talked at length with her daughter, however, and it clearly did both of them some good.
Her daughter "is saddened over it and doesn’t understand why anyone would do that unless they were severely depressed or abused," the mom said.
Investigators emphasized that preliminary evidence doesn't point to bullying. Other factors were at work, they said, without elaborating.
"My heart just breaks over this," the mom said. "I never want my child to feel that she can’t come to me about ANYTHING no matter what. That's why I’ve assured her that I’m here, always, no matter what happens."
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The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Or text CONNECT to 741-741.You are not alone.
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