Thursday, February 7, 2013

RIP Daniel Gutendorff

Daniel Gutendorff may not be a name the younger guys reading this are familiar with, but it should mean something to those from 2010-earlier.  It seems that early this week, at age 16, Daniel ended his own life.  Dan was an incredibly gifted rider, but living in Motala, Sweden, didn't allow for him to ride much anywhere except the road outside his own home.




Riding the flat and few parks/street spots he did have, he quickly turned into one of the most technical young riders out there.  Not only that, but he was someone I considered a close friend.  Back then, we would converse over MSN like you would with your buddy on Facebook today.  Despite the language barrier, despite the thousands of miles separating us, we were connected through scooter riding and the Internet.  Sadly, from what I understood he developed some back problems and was ordered by his doctor to stop riding.  After that he would occasionally hit me up, even asked about some new parts that he wanted to buy.  


Dan had a part in Technical Difficulty, which was one of the most discussed videos of its time.

Nearly a year ago, he did tell me that he was depressed and was trying to fix his life, and wanted to know what he should do...I did very little to help, only telling him to seek counseling and find some new friends.  I didn't know what to say, I'd never been in that situation before...I just wish I had made an effort afterwards to check up on him and see how he was doing.  Please, for what it's worth, if you know someone who is depressed, having suicidal thoughts, or just seems down, talk to them.  If you are someone who is in a situation like Daniel was, please reach out to someone.  You never know what kind words can do for someone.  Suicide shouldn't be an option for anyone at all, much less someone like Dan; a good kid, and talented scooter rider.

Rest in Peace Daniel.

32 comments:

  1. This is horrible.. I was friends with Dan. And I always encouraged his riding.. I loved his style..

    Rest in Peace Dan..

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  2. Holy shit, R.I.P. bro. I remember watching him back in the day and he always did the best FSF combos. Ride in peace.

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  3. Damn, I remember this kid. So sad to lose a member of the community. RIP

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  4. Oh my god. I remember Technical Difficulty.
    Rest in peace.

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  5. This is terrible! Just want everyone to know that they were made for something greater.

    This link should be public. If you can read it please also share it.
    http://www.facebook.com/notes/joey-aria/why-should-i-not-commit-suicide/187947420226

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  6. R.I.P Dan ...
    Scooters rider like a big familly in the world ... The death of one of us is horrible for the community ... !

    Rest in Peace Dan...

    Andréas Laroche-Joubert

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  7. This story was really dear to me as Daniel was one of my favorite riders to watch on youtube when I first started riding and the one who really got me into plain flat. He was so talented and creative I wanted to learn everything he could do. Got so upset when he deleted his youtube channel but always remembered his influence on me and riding.

    I had attempted suicide on June 7th, 2011. Luckily, I was found before doing any serious brain damage but unconscious and took me 2 weeks to just walk again. Happy as can be now and riding everyday.

    Rest in peace Daniel.

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  8. I always thought he was the most creative flatland rider. I loved his videos, and even though I had no personal connection to him I can sympathize with the suicide. Rest in Peace. Suicide should not be taken lightly.

    -Connor Love

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  9. shit...that's some heavy stuff. RIP Dan.

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  10. RIP homie, i never knew him but he sure was a talented rider

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  11. damn i remember watching his edits back in the day.. such a shame. rip

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  12. I knew him from SR wayyy back. Man, all this didnt even show up when just a few months ago I was asking him and trying to find some places to ride in Sweden in the winter. I had always hoped that when ever I go to ride in Sweden, i'd had the chance to meet him. Knowing how the SR community connected all these original gangsters since 2005 from all parts of the planet then I had always wished that i'd at least meet the ones closest to me in Europe. This is sad. Dan, you'll be missed.

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  13. This is such a shame, such a talented kid as well, and so young, it's tragic.. rest in peace Daniel.

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  14. I remeber this guy......hope he is rideing in haven.......R.I.P. :(

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  15. Hi i'm Daniels father Markus Gutendorff.
    I gave Daniel his first dv cam at 11 years of age and bought him that first Razor Pro scooter. He practically lived on it for 2 years. I thought that you cannot do much with a scooter, but man, was i wrong ! after 3 months i opened the door to find Daniel riding his Razor sitting backwards on the bar, balancing with hands and feet in the air, he rode the Razor 30m that way.
    I was wondering if you can help me find more clips from Daniel Gutendorff.
    His name on youtube was farmorochfarmar, but his youtube account was erased by google. He also had an account on scooterresource but i don't know his name there, so all help recovering Daniels would be priceless to me.
    I only have 3 hours of tape left as Daniel discarded a lot of videos because he didn't consider himself to be a great rider, he put so high demands on himself /Markus

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  16. OMG, Rob Eaton used to talk to Dan :( I remember watching his riding back in the day. :( :( man this is upsetting. RIP!

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  17. nononono. I fucking don't believe this. As the only two riders in Scandinavia back in the days, me and Daniel were in contact everyday, and we used to make edits for each other. RIP and you'll be remembered for ever.
    -Johan Grunwald

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  18. So sad. Thoughts go out to his family & friends. The sport has lost a young talent. RIP Dan

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  19. never knew him, never heard of him but its awful that a rider took his own life. ride.in.peace

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  20. Not only will he be remembered in the scooter community, I played a game called DayZ with him, just a week-two weeks before he took his own life. I was wondering where he went, and he told me he had uninstalled the game a week ago due to it being too adictive, I told him that's fine and he should concentrate on real life, family, friends, school, etc. But yesterday I thought the same thought... Where is Daniel?

    The same day, yesterday(thursday) I recieved the horrible news about Daniel having taken his own life. This is horrible. I didn't even know he was in to scooting, but now I know, after his death. It's such a weird thing, a person you know over the internet, who you think is confident and have no problems all of the sudden is found dead... I feel broken at the moment, I did not think he would do this at all, nor did I know about his problems.

    R.I.P Daniel, a good teammate and teamplayer. Never hurt anyone. Thought before actions. I will miss you! :(

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  21. Rest in peace bro.
    Never forgotten, always in my heart. <3

    You were so good at this, i hope your talent lives through your brother Gabriel now. <3

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  22. Rest in Power man, you crossed over to the far-side, the edge , the unknown. I'll see you again someday.

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  23. I never saw him ride.. But after watching the edit above I can see he was a very talented rider who was in trouble, thoughts are with his friends and family! Ride In Peace!

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  24. I will miss him <3. *a friend from motala*

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  25. I was also recently affected by suicide and it's a terrible thing to happen to anyone. I feel for Daniel's family and friends.

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  26. mmmmm...Ok... Loss on loss on loss,huh? I won't judge Daniel. I feel like the scooter community is a family even though most of it's online...It makes me kinda feel silly,but..I think jeez y'know...lolz

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  27. Rest in peace , you seemed like a good-hearted person and a great rider..

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  28. Rest in peace Daniel! :( <3

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  29. I knew him a little and most of my friends went to the same school as he did, that kid had talent in every singel bone in his body, he could paint like no other person I have ever met and he had straight A:s in every subject in school. Everything he tried he was good at!

    Sorry for my bad English, I am from the same town as Daniel and everybody who knew him loved him because he was always happy and didn't brag about what he could do at all. Sadly as of what I knew he never thought he was good at anything but he really where good at everything!

    Ride in peace dude! Hope you find some good spots up there!<3

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  30. Damn, I use to look up to this guy and watch his videos a lot back when I started around 09 until he disappeared from Youtube :(
    Rest in peace bro.

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  31. I remember seeing a discussion he was involved in.... SKRILLEX DID NOT INVENT DUBSTEP! Ugh I really wish you were alive so I could tell you that!

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