Update: 8/17/15 8AM CST: The name of the man who fell to his death from a tower last week has been released. The 20-year old man’s name is Tyler Bresnahan, a R.I. local. The incident has been ruled as accidental. According to news sources, his social media accounts were filled with pictures of his thrill-seeking: hanging off bridges and jumping off cliffs–even climbing to the top of the very same tower that would eventually claim him. It is still unconfirmed whether he was authorized to be on the tower in the first place, but all signs are pointing to no currently.
“Thrill seekers usually have less dopamine receptors in their brain than other people, so this requires them to have more stimulation, more dangerous activities to get the adrenaline running,” Allison Bernier, the director of care integration at the Providence Center, said.
It has been reported that yesterday afternoon Rhode Island State Police were investigating the “sudden death” of a 20-year-old man in Exeter, R.I.
A call was placed to emergency services concerning a man who had fallen to his death from a cell tower off Yawgoo Valley Road. Despite being near a ski and water park, representatives from the park confirmed to local news that the tower was not actually a part of their property, instead existing on a patch of land that functioned as division of property.
Very few details are available at this moment, including the identity of the fallen man and even whether he was a tower climber or an overly adventurous citizen. As always, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the fallen.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and RCR Wireless News will provide updates as this story develops.
The last tower death came in April. Stephanie Gurney fell to her death from a cell tower in San Angelo, Texas, but at the time details surrounding the situation were unclear. With a potential lawsuit in the air, further details have emerged. According to reports, the woman was the girlfriend of a tower climber. She was considering going into the tower-climbing profession herself, so her boyfriend and his boss at Jostan Communications, Joseph Grimes, were on site with her, assessing her climbing abilities. This was her first climb. According to Grimes, “We went through safety measures on the ground, before we even got on the tower.”
But then something went wrong. After Grimes climbed and descended successfully, he was checking his phone when he heard a “horrific” scream from the boyfriend, followed by the sound of Gurney hitting the ground. While 911 was called immediately, it was too late. Gurney was pronounced dead upon arrival at the local area hospital. An investigation into the incident was opened.
