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UPDATED: Corbin hotel employee says man set himself on fire, wanted to die
Posted On 30 Jul 2010
Witnesses told police and emergency personnel that a man, later identified as Kenneth Patrick Turvey, doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire about 4 a.m. Friday morning behind the Holiday Inn Express in Corbin
Corbin Police confirmed the incident was an attempted suicide in a press release to the media Friday afternoon.
Police, Fire and emergency personnel were called to the parking lot behind the Holiday Inn Express near exit 25 off of Interstate 75 about 4 a.m. after a hotel employee found Turvey, 42, of Pevely, Mo., on a dirt road behind the hotel.
Sam Smith, the night auditor at the hotel, said he came out the back door of the hotel to check the parking lot.
"I could see a fire on the hill and could hear him (Turvey) screaming," Smith said.
Smith added that he ran back the path next to the hotel’s dumpster where he saw Turvery laying in a ditch.
"He screaming at me to let him die," Smith said. "I grabbed mud and water from the ditch and started putting it on him," Smith said, adding that he kept telling Turvey to remain on the ground and that help was coming.
Smith said Turvey’s body was charred black from the burning gasoline.
"Part of his ear was gone and his skin was falling off his body," Smith said.
Despite the pain and the injuries, Smith said Turvey got to his feet and began walking toward the hotel.
"I was talking to him, telling him to sit down and that help was coming," Smith said, adding that he had been on the phone with a 911 dispatcher.
Smith said Turvey finally sat down on the sidewalk behind the hotel, after which Corbin Police, Firefighters and emergency personnel arrived.
Emergency personnel said they wanted to fly Turvey to the University of Kentucky Medical Center, but were unable to do so at the time because of dense fog. Turvey was taken to Baptist Regional Medical Center and was later airlifted to UK with burns to 99 percent of his body.
Officials at UK said Turvey is in critical condition.
Firefighters said they extinguished several small gasoline fires on the property. The charred ground was visible Friday afternoon.
Corbin Police Sgt. Shannon Jones is continuing the investigation.
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Bantam
Very Tragic! Suicide like this is very uncommon in western society. But it’s quite common for asian countries, many people take their lives by dousing themselves with gasoline and then setting themselves on fire. Remember the Vietnamese monk during the Vietnam war who set himself on fire to protest the Polpot regime that was killing innocent Vietnamese people? Horrible and sad, I can’t imagine toturing myself or anyone for that matter with gasoline and a match. I hope that God heals the minds of people with mental problems and they find salvation. God watches out for fools.
maybe the news journal will find out why this guy was so depressed that he done this. this is a horrible story. people can become so sad sometimes and they just feel like they have no place to turn other than suicide. we all need to be praying for this man. if he makes it maybe there needs to be some kind of intervention to let him know that he is a valuable person and that he is loved.
It is awful to see people who become this unhappy in life that they would do something like this. We have failed as a society if we don’t see the warning signs of something like this sooner.
sad sad sad, I don’t know what else to say. It is good he didn’t die, but oh how he must be suffering. Maybe he will find the Lord this way and get saved.