Roger Stotesbury, british father-of-two, 58, slips and falls 30ft to his death from an ancient Indian temple ‘while trying to take a SELFIE’ on a dream round-the-world trip with his wife.
He and his wife Hilary had dubbed their world tour “Our Middle Aged Gap Year”.
Documentary filmmaker and father-of-two Roger, whose motto was “to die young as late as possible”, was standing near the edge of a wall on the second floor of the temple when he fell down down from a height of about 30 feet, police have said.
The mishap occurred at about 4.30pm local time at the tourist site in the Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh state, India.
The couple, describing themselves as from England and Scotland, wrote in an online blog about “Our Middle Aged Gap Year” which began last November.
They had travelled through 22 countries including Italy, Chile, Patagonia, Canada, the USA, Australia, Japan, Korean, China, Singapore and Malaysia until reaching India as their final stop recently.
They say they put all their possessions in a container on a farm, rented out their house and set off to “experience new things” with a round-the-world flight ticket.
“We are Hilary and Roger a married couple from England/Scotland who are in their mid fifties.
“Hilary’s motto is ‘just do it’ whilst Roger’s is ‘to die young as late as possible’.
“We took the view that on your deathbed you never wish you’d spent more time in the office.
“We’ve seen our two kids off into the wider world and we have no more caring responsibilities for our parents.
“So we thought now is the time to take a gap year and travel whilst we still have the health and energy. After all you only live once.
“We really hope you enjoy reading about our travels around the world.
“After all, why should only youngsters take “Gap Years”.”
Their last blog post from the trip was photos by Roger of locals on the banks of a river near the Taj Mahal on October 12, the day before his death.
“India is the stuff of dreams, colour, smells, extremes, contradictions and sacred cows,” they wrote.
Back in the UK, Roger was looking to establish his business, Cut to the Doc, as a producer of online and festival documentaries.
Alongside a pic in China he wrote on Twitter recently: “Found a new DOP in Guangzhou, China.
“And looking forward to returning to filmmaking in November.”
In Venice Beach, he wrote on Twitter: “This round-the-world trip is one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
The title and content of this article is clearly misleading. The claim that he died whilst taking a selfie has been disputed by the family.
According to 1.ii) of the IPSO Editor’s Code of Practice any “misleading statement or distortion must be corrected”.
London PR consultant Gina Rozner, a member of the family, released a statement saying that the fact he was taking a selfie when he fell was untrue. The only witness to Roger Stotesbury’s fall was his wife, Hilary, so any report from the family should hold greater weight.
Despite this, you have not updated the article with this information and especially not the headline. Neither suggest this ‘selfie aspect’ is wrong or at least disputed.
Most media outlets have corrected the selfie claim but the ones that have not, such as yourselves, are causing immense distress to the family at an already difficult time.
Please can you update your article as soon as possible.