The Long Drop

The term "long drop" refers to a method of hanging introduced by the British in the 19th century as a humane way of executing criminals. By scientifically factoring in the weight and height of the subject, the executioner could mathematically guarantee a swift death: "The long drop method was designed to break the prisoner’s neck by allowing them to fall a pre-determined distance and then be brought up with a sharp jerk by the rope. At the end of the drop the body is still accelerating under the force of gravity but the head is constrained by the noose which delivers a massive blow to the back and one side of the neck, which combined with the downward momentum of the body, breaks the neck and ruptures the spinal cord causing instant deep unconsciousness and rapid death. The later use of the brass eyelet in the noose tended to break the neck with more certainty. Due to its position under the angle of the left jaw, the head is snapped backward with such force that the posterior aspect of the foramen magnum cuts the spinal cord superior to the top vertebra and just a little inferior to the brain stem. The accurately measured and worked out drop removed most of the prisoner's physical suffering and made the whole process far less traumatic for the officials who now had to witness it in the confines of the execution cell instead of in the open air."

By the time I've posted this, Nguyen Tuong Van would have dropped the long drop in a prison somewhere in Singapore; the long drop would have taken all of 3 minutes to snuff the life out of 25-year old Nguyen. His crime - he was caught with 397 grams of heroin on his way back to Melbourne. How much is 397 grams? It's a little less than a pound, and in Singapore, it's the price of a human life.

The story is too sad, too bizarre, too tragic. It's 4:50 pm EST - Nguyen is probably now in the prison gallows holding rosary beads in his hand, hood over his head, waiting for the long drop. Maybe he's scared, maybe he's hysterical, or maybe he's at peace. And his mother... how her heart must be breaking into a million tiny pieces.

I didn't know Nguyen, I didn't hear about him until today. But at 5pm EST, I'd say a prayer for him. What good his death could bring the world, I don't really know, and I would never understand why this could happen in a civilized society.

"...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
- John Donne

Now - here's a subject Delia can probably package - how about religious conversion on Death Row?


Delia Gallagher