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Whiteside said that the university has not yet spoken to the student, who is in hospital and being watched by his mother.

“We know he’s going to be OK,” she said.

A 20-year-old, identifying himself as “Stephen” on the frequently controversial 4Chan messageboard, said he was planning on committing suicide and wanted to live broadcast the event for fellow members.

“This is it. Tonight I will be ending my own life. I’ve been spending the last hour making the preparations and I’m ready to go through with it. As [a longtime member] who’s been on 4chan since 2004, I thought I would finally give back to the community in the best way possible: I am willing to an hero [commit suicide] on cam for you all. All that I request is for you guys to link me to a site where I am able to stream it for you guys, then I will gladly fulfill my promise,” “Stephen” wrote Saturday evening.

In the video, which is still available online, “Stephen” swallowed unidentified pills with vodka and later set a fire in the room, as he crawled underneath his blankets. He updated his feed several times saying: “#imdead #omgimonfire” and “I’m fuck3d.”

While some users told him to stop, many encouraged him and suggested alternative ways to take his life. The original livefeed, set up by a 4chan user on streaming site Chateen, was watched by 200 people and even more tried to view it [the maximum amount of concurrent viewers on Chateen is 200].

“Provide pics, room is full,” one user demanded.