Rachel Bryk commits suicide following online harassment
It is with a heavy heart today that I report on the death of Rachel Bryk, a 23-year-old woman who was instrumental in the development of the Dolphin emulator over the last two years.
Rachel started working on Dolphin development around two years ago, picking up a lot of the nastier development jobs that others didn’t want to be lumped with. Her work was instrumental in Wii Remote TASing becoming stable for the vast majority of emulator users, as well as being a key part of several other updates to the software in recent years.
The outpouring of support from the Dolphin development community in the wake of Rachel’s death makes it easy to see how much of a key player she was in that community. She put countless hours of unpaid work into improving the gameplay experience of Dolphin users everywhere and will be dearly missed by many.
Rachel’s death unfortunately appears to have been in part the result of a prolonged wave of online harassment, concluding with people online sending countless messages that suggested not only that she commit suicide, but that she do so in the manner that she did. There are clear parallels between the messages she was sent and the actions that ultimately led to her untimely death.
It is also important to note she had been struggling for several years with rheumatoid arthritis, a condition which caused her substantial physical pain. Many of her friends believed this to be another contributing factor.
Trans women worldwide have a life expectancy of around twenty five years old. Most people can agree that trans women worldwide far too often find their lives cut short before their time. We here at Destructoid are all deeply saddened by Rachel’s passing and hope that her family and friends are able to find the comfort and support they need.
If you need support concerning suicide or related topics, here are some trans friendly resources and hotlines.
