What would you do?

[bakaKanadajin]

Your mother whom you love dearly falls over a railing into very choppy water below while leaning against it and posing for a photo while site-seeing. It's a good 30ft. drop. Diving in after her would 99% mean your own death as the water is surrounded by rockface and there is no shore. It's an ocean coast and the water is being whipped up by the wind very violently around the rocks.

Very few others are around.

Time is running out.

Strange question but for some reason it popped into my head and just wondered how many people would essentially rather die trying or live with the tragedy. (Replace mother with father or whoever is closest to you if necessary.)

Picture a spot like this:
http://geology.cwru.edu/~huwig/catalog/slides/261.%20.7a.jpg

[Putrefaction]

After yelling for someone to call 911, first one.

[Tsuyoiko]

I wouldn't jump in. There seems little point in both of us dying. If the chances to rescue my dad (the most precious person in my life) were somewhere around 50% then I would risk it. If it means almost certain death for both of us, I'd rather save my family from suffering two unnecessary losses rather than "just" one.

[sara **]

Immediately dive in knowing you'd most likely both die, hoping to save her. It's worth the chance.


Thanks

[Chidoriashi]

I don't think anybody could say for certain how they would react until actually in that situation. I would probably guess from the perspective of most mothers though, they would want you to stay up there.

[Half-n-Half]

I really like how the choices were specifically worded, especially the, "[...]Jumping in isn't logical." bit. It really serves to dichotomize the two choices: reason and logic or a pure emotional response that serves to override reason and logic.

I would have to agree with Chidoriashi, though. It's easy for me to sit here and give you a response, but if I was put in that situation I really would have no idea. Perhaps I would call 911 and get the Coast Guard, that would be the logical thing to do. Seeing as I am human I would probably give in to my emotions and jump in to try and comfort/protect/save her. But, it's all speculation. So I guess I opt for a combination of the first two choices.

[Derfel]

Realistically, you have no real prospect of being able to help your mother, so her survival depends purely on her actions and luck. That being said, I think that there would be little purpose in jumping in to help even if your chance for survival was 99%. Even if you could miraculously regenerate all your wounds, however deep, you'd just be bashed against rocks for like and hour, in which time your mother would either die or not, the former being the likely outcome. Knowing that I have no way of helping, I would not jump, and that is disregarding the fact that in the current scenario I am not immortal, which makes jumping even more intimidating.

[RavenRockstar]

To be COMPLETELY realistic my response would probably be:
"How odd, I havent seen my mother in six years and now we're hanging out. Hey! Look a birdie!"
*runs after birdie*
15 minutes later
*comes back*
"I just wanted to say hi, it didnt have to attack me. Hey, where's mom?"
But y'know, thats just me

[Elizabeth]

I wouldn't jump in. There seems little point in both of us dying. If the chances to rescue my dad (the most precious person in my life) were somewhere around 50% then I would risk it. If it means almost certain death for both of us, I'd rather save my family from suffering two unnecessary losses rather than "just" one.
I agree. My blood kin also don't sacrifice their lives for each other unless they couldn't help it, because that diminishes the size and force of the family. I'd risk my life for a stranger, but die??? Like other posters have said, it's too hard to think in those terms without being there in the moment.

[RolandtheHeadless]

I'd probably jump in without really thinking about it, for any family member.

By the time you got through all these calculations and cost-benefit analyses, it would be too late to do anything even if you wanted to.

[justin]

A chance no matter how small is still a chance. To die trying to save a member of my family would be a good death.

Todo por la familia. All for the family.