The attempt by Czech gymnast Natalia Stichova, 23 years old, to take a risky selfie ended in tragedy. The young woman reportedly fell from a height of about 80 meters from a mountain near Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, known as the “Sleeping Beauty Castle,” which inspired Walt Disney. Stichova was an athlete and coach at the T.J. Sokol Pribram club in the city of Pribram, located in the Central Bohemia region.
Although the incident occurred on August 15 in Germany, her death took place six days later, on Wednesday the 21st, after she had been hospitalized with irreversible damage. The family decided to remove the life support that had kept her in a coma, newspapers The Sun and Marca reported on Tuesday.
The young woman was visiting the German castle in the Bavarian area with her boyfriend and two friends when the incident occurred. According to authorities, the path she took on the Tegelberg mountain, part of the Alps, is classified as a “challenging ascent.”
Neuschwanstein Castle is a German palace built in the 19th century in southwest Bavaria
DR
According to one of the friends, a witness to the incident, in an interview with Czech media, Stichova was preparing to take a selfie in front of the castle, on the edge of a cliff, when one of her feet appears to have slipped, and she slid down the mountain. “She fell from a height of about 80 meters. We will never know if she slipped or if a piece of the rock’s edge broke off,” the witness told Daily Mail.
It was common for the young woman to share photos of her travels on her social media, showing herself on top of mountains with her training equipment and posing in ways that highlighted her gymnastics skills, such as on Pico do Arieiro, one of the highest points in Madeira.
The young Czech on Pico do Arieiro, Madeira
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According to O Globo, Natalia’s mother paid an emotional tribute on her Instagram account, describing her as “amazing,” expressing her pride, and highlighting the positive impact she had on her life and the lives of her siblings. “There is no one who didn’t love her. Our Natalia was the most beloved person,” wrote the mother, as noted by Mirror.
“She lost her battle for life on August 21 at 5:30 AM. Natalia spread smiles throughout her short life, and that is how we will remember her forever,” her sports club stated in a post on Instagram, expressing condolences to her family and friends.
According to The Sun, it is not the first time someone has lost their life in the Schwangau area, where the castle is located. Earlier this year, in June, an American tourist was killed after an alleged sex offender threw her off a bridge into a ravine while her travel companion tried to prevent it. The two young women, aged 21 and 22, had met the man, who was about 30 years old, on-site and were visiting the castle when they were attacked.
It is also not the first time someone has died while taking a selfie. In late July of last year, 30-year-old Frenchman Remi Lucidi died in Hong Kong while attempting a stunt on Tregunter Tower, a 68-story building. The goal was to take a selfie at the top of the structure. In 2018, in Panama, a Portuguese woman died after falling from the 27th floor of a building while trying to take a self-portrait with her phone.
According to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine, there were 379 deaths worldwide related to selfies between 2008 and 2021, cited by Euronews. This figure is four times higher than the number of people who died from shark attacks during the same period. The quest for the perfect selfie to post on social media has led tourists to take risks that can result in tragic incidents. In addition to fatal falls, there are accidents with cars and trains, encounters with wild animals, and drownings.
News corrected on 28/08/2024, at 10:29 AM: where it previously said that Pico do Arieiro was the highest in Madeira, it now states that it is one of the highest.