Teenager Andrey Retrovsky was what you’d call a thrill-seeker — he loved taking selfies in death-defying situations although his extreme hobby would sadly end in tragedy one fateful evening in 2015.
Retrovsky was a high schooler from Russia who was in his final year of school and according to Yahoo News, he was considering his university options. His social media profiles were chock full of photos and selfies of Retrovsky dangling from tall buildings and perched in precarious situations.
Extreme selfies like this aren’t too uncommon online, since it’s somewhat of a phenomenon amongst thrill seekers, but obviously, it is still incredibly dangerous. Nowadays, this kind of content can be found on TikTok, where people record themselves performing extreme stunts for likes and views.
What happened to Andrey Retrovsky?
In September 2015 Retrovsky and a friend climbed to the top of a nine-story building in the city of Vologda. As reported by News.com.au, the pair were hoping to take a picture in which it looked like Retrovsky was falling from the building by having him hang off the side using ropes. However, the rope used to secure the teen somehow failed resulting in him falling from the top of the building straight to the ground below.
Typically, falling from such a height would be enough to kill instantly, but Retrovsky landed in some bushes that somewhat broke his fall. The 17-year-old didn’t die on impact and was quickly transported to hospital, but unfortunately, his injuries were far too extensive — Russian authorities announced that he died two hours after the horrific accident.
The tragic story of Retrovsky serves as a grim reminder of the dangers of partaking in such thrill-seeking adventures. Deaths related to such selfies are more common than you’d expect, with a spike in deaths in Russia leading to a safe selfie campaign being started in an attempt to discourage people from taking such pictures.
A short illustrated booklet was distributed in an attempt to educate people on the risks involved although, despite this, there are still deaths happening every year across the globe because of the continued ambition to attain instant viral status with such deadly selfies.