Just three days after writing on his social media account that he was depressed and determined to take his life by driving the wrong way and crashing headlong into a truck on the Florida Turnpike, Tzvi Yeheskel Ference apparently did just that.
The 26-year-old was killed when the car he was driving north in the southbound lanes of the highway collided with a tractor-trailer south of Griffin Road shortly before midnight Sunday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Ference was declared dead at the scene,
The driver of the truck and his passenger were not injured.
According to a Facebook posting on Friday, Ference, of Miami Beach, said he nearly carried out his plan for a public suicide Wednesday night but stopped when "I was overcome with such emotion that I started crying."
Ference pulled over near the entrance to the Turnpike, he wrote, "and cried non-stop for over 10 minutes."
But nothing stopped him about 11:40 p.m. Sunday.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Ference was driving a 2009 Hyundai Accent northbound in the southbound lanes of the turnpike when it hit the tractor-trailer being driven by Yadian Palomino-Leyva, 30, of Miami. Asleep in the back of the cab was passenger Leany Cervantes-Rodrigurez, 26, FHP Sgt. Mark Wysocky said.
Ference's Hyundai overturned and came to rest on its roof while the tractor-trailer jackknifed and hit a guardrail on the turnpike's west shoulder.
Ference, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Wysocky.
Where Ference got on the road and how long he was driving the wrong way are still being investigated, Wysocky said.
Ference recently had written about his years-long battle with depression on Facebook and Tumblr.
"I have major depression and have attempted suicide in the past," Ference wrote in a Facebook post Friday. "Sometimes life gets so overwhelming that I just want to quit."
Bracha Ference, 22, said her brother had been battling depression and had been on various medications and in therapy since the age of 16. "He definitely had been going through his ups and downs," said Bracha Ference.
Bracha Ference, who lives in New Jersey, said she received the news of her brother's death early Monday in a phone call from her mother, Tamar Ference, an assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.
11 comments:
Plenty of ways for the sicko to kill himself without murdering others in the process.
I have zero sympathy for him after he decided to drag down innocents with him.
He's similar to a Neturei Kartanik who will sell out unzerra to make a point against Tzionim
You are a disgusting barbaric achzer you can join Isis, i wonder which amalekite blood is running in your vains and i wouldn't be surprised that one of your ancestors were kapos
Why "z'l" next to his name? lehaluche he is not even zoyche to kvura in a regular feld
5:33 PM is having a fit over what exactly?
This sick guy ranted on UOJ 7 years ago that the menahel Rabbi Tendler threw him out of Ner Yisroel when his behavior was in the 2nd year of going downhill and that menahel didn't want to get farshmuzt with him after that. Gee, I wonder why!
Aside from expressions of grief and condolences that follow tragic news reports like this, there is an observed tendency to either look for someone to blame, or better yet to look for a message we can take from this tragedy to improve our lot in life. Here's my message.
Mental illness is equal opportunity, and does not disfavor Yidden. Among our community are people who suffer with the entire gamut of mental illness, including depressions, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, addictions, OCD, and all the rest. These need to be evaluated and treated by those trained to do so. It is completely incompetent to seek advice and guidance from those who are not educated in the field. Rabbonim are wonderful for much, but are generally untrained in psychology and psychiatry. Seek their brachos, perhaps even referrals. But you would not ask a Rav to clear a clogged drain or repair your furnace. Don't make them into a therapist.
It is assumed that this victim A"H was under medical care. Tragedies can happen anyway. But to guarantee this with incompetence is tantamount to murder. May HKB"H comfort all avaeilim, and protect us from all danger and disease. Hashem Yishmereinu.
Rabbi T had a very dark side to him which very few knew of. His story about rabbi T does not surprise me at all.
I suggest you read about mental illness as i could see from your writing that you have no clue what it is
To you anonymous, put your foot in his shoes,? can you imagine how depressed and broken this man had to be that he took suicide,? Can you imagine what went trough his mind all this week's before he made this wrong decisions? this man had to be so so depressed,?so angry on the world, so broken and so emotionally disturbed, he must had lots of issues,? How can you be so cold blooded with your comments,? Where is mercy a little bit,? Don't we have here a family who lost a /child/brother/uncle/? How can you put more salt to the wounds? Where is your feelings towards other broken people,? Or broken families,? Is it the right time or the right place to bash ,nebech, this man? especially he is not alive anymore,? Are you a man with a heart attack all,?
To you again anonymous, little do you no that people with depression/anxiety/suicidal/have their ups and downs? One day they could be doing very good? and the next day they could even be admitted to the hospital? So please if you don't no about people with depression? Or anxiety? Please don't comment at all,? But never bash someone who is unfortunately not anymore on this world,? He suffered enough,? Let him rest in peace,? And don't put more pain to such families,? Please have some decency,? Its not the right time to do it ?
I can't understand why someone didn't take away his car keys after he had already made other suicide attempts and even posted his intentions about it. The whole thing just makes no sense. Clearly he wasn't getting the help he needed.
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