He also said that the man who ran into the Man at Burning Man a couple years ago had his final conversation with Tony before he self immolated.
The guy who shared was a rather successful entrepreneur and otherwise I had no reason to suspect he was lying.
His name was Aaron Joel Mitchell. I've supplied an article that timelines Mitchell's night. His last known interactions were with some people he knew from Switzerland. There were no drugs or alcohol found in his system. That's to say, both facts make it highly unlikely he was around Tony.
https://www.rgj.com/story/life/arts/burning-man/2018/02/09/b...
For example, the drug info isn't from an autopsy, but what some unnamed UC Davis medical staff told Mitchell's grieving mother, and she relayed to the reporter.
Similarly, the bit about "friends from Switzerland" is just passed on from Mitchell's friend, with no other confirming details – like, say any reports on Mitchell's last actions from those supposed people.
Now, the claim Mitchell last spoke with Hsieh still sounds like a made-up urban-legend to me. But the "Mitchell's mom said" and "Mitchell's friend said" accounts from the RGJ story aren't dispositive either way.
And even without drugs, or a dramatic "last talk", it's not inconceivable that Mitchell & Hsieh had met at some point, & even possibly shared a fascination (including when sober!) with fantasies of self-immolation. The world is weird. Distressed/depressed people with synergistic delusions can find each other via the internet easier than ever before.
Kind of, but I wouldn't call that hearsay. If his mother got it from someone credentialed, it's good info. The caveat to that is that toxicology reports can only detect what's screened for. If he were given a research chemical, for instance, or unknowingly ingested one then we'd never know.
All of that is not for not though. There's some things to be learned:
- if you're planning on doing a new drug or an old drug from a new supplier then test your stuff and start small. If you're messing with hallucinagens then you need a benzo on stand by.
- never accept drugs from people at festivals, full stop.
- always have a trip sitter that's sober
Your point about only finding what's tested for is valid, and when imprecise assurances are passed from unnamed-medical-tech, to grieving mother, to reporter, it's especially likely relevant details get either filed-off, or embellished. A kind but nondefinitive mention, "we didn't see any evidence of intoxicants" could morph into the far-stronger claim, "they said they tested but found no trace of drugs or alcohol".
Note also the UC Davis burn center is more-than-an-hour by medivac from Black Rock Desert. If Mitchell was effectively lost before he arrived (even if not "called"), would any toxicology even be run? It wouldn't change the treatment or prognosis.
Also, at least one info page from a peer institution (UCSF) about toxicology screens does not include LSD, MDMA, or many other hallucinogens in its otherwise-detailed list about what might be detected: https://www.ucsfhealth.org/medical-tests/toxicology-screen
When I first saw the vague reference to "friends from Switzerland" in the article – without names or any reporting followup to speak with these last pre-incident witnesses – I even thought it might be a sly euphemism for a large LSD dose, given that substance's roots in Switzerland. But seeing that Mitchell had resided in Switzerland, seeing some friends from there becomes the far more credible interpretation.
Your summary lessons are great advice!
One thing that stands out to me: if my best friend died like this, I would have absolutely no desire to spread this information about them after their death.
FWIW, the detail about the Burning Man self-immolator sounds sketchy in a "heard it from a friend of a friend" urban-legend manner.
But the idea that someone with all the other erratic behaviors & drug practices credibly-described in Hsieh's last days also had some odd & self-destructive beliefs about death is unsurprising. Such beliefs are not atypical in various mental illnesses, including those caused or aggravated by drug abuse.
Given the other reports of Hsieh's erratic behavior, including with regard to health practices & psychoactive drugs, & the specific manner in which he ultimately died, it's very plausible he'd developed a fascination with death & self-harm.
And some people who do that also seek out others with similar fantasies, sometimes for mutual encouragement, aka, a 'death cult' or 'suicide pact'. Sad but true – and in my estimation, better to be aware of as a real possibility than reflexively deny as likely fabrication.
He was very against the casual use of dissociatives like ketamine and nitrous, and said it was from these visions that Tony felt he needed to burn himself.
Eventual symptoms of such damage can include tingling, numbness, headaches, lethargy, balance problems, memory problems, confusion, anxiety, & depression.
Even medical staff with daily exposure to sub-perceptual trace amounts (leaked or exhaled by patients) sometimes develop problems.
To suggest Hsieh would be associated with or have been influenced by the person who died that night is a shame.
The burn is no Eden, and participants are not saints. However, there is a positive spirit of gifting that Hsieh did foster outside the national event. The work he did downtown Vegas was a testament to this.
If anything, that is what should be remembered about Hsieh’s connection to BM.
I hope he gets the will to get better.