Jumper
12/19/03
No pictures today.
I was on my way home tonight, on the Manhattan Bridge, when I saw a few people at the railing, looking like they were taking pictures of the incredible view of downtown and the Brooklyn Bridge. But one of them, looking pained, motioned me over; I threw my bike down; an old Chinese man who didn't seem to speak English handed me a cell phone. Then I saw her: a girl, about 15 or 20, standing on the ledge on the wrong side of the fence, a hundred feet above the East River, trying to escape from the three people who were pulling her in. After a bit of confusion, I called 911 from my phone and tried to convey to the clueless-seeming dispatcher that THERE WAS A PERSON JUMPING FROM THE BRIDGE and YES, they should send help. And call the Coast Guard.
By now the girl was slumping down, resisting the people who were trying to hold her back -- two women, a jogger and a cyclist, were talking to her (without much in the way of a response), and they and the Chinese man were holding on. I grabbed her leg, trying to afford her the dignity of looking away from her naked torso (for the others had apparently grabbed onto her shirt and succeeded only in bunching it up around her sleeves). Another cyclist stopped, and I asked him for his locking cable, which he threaded around her leg. I grabbed the girl's hand, held on to it, then also her wrist, until the Coast Guard called me back for information and I found someone to replace me and my numb left hand.
Eventually the cops showed up, first one, then two, then a few dozen on the bridge, four boats below, and a helicopter or two. They shut down the bridge to traffic and trains, handcuffed the girl to the railing, cut the fence away, harnessed up a cop and pulled the girl to safety, all while I was standing there feeling useless except for the belt I had lent to the cause and the possibility that the Coast Guard would call me again. The girl didn't look happy to be saved as the cops loaded her into a stretcher, her hands bloodied by the handcuffs, but she was alive.
I wish this were fiction. But if you pass the big gap in the chain-link fence on the bridge before they replace it, you will know it's not.
At this time of the year, let's be thankful for the first person who recognized the situation, stopped what she was doing, and saved a life tonight.
7:16 PM | Comments (35) | TrackBack (3)
Comments
wow, your point at the end is poignant and a true example of the seasons. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Tamara at December 19, 2003 08:49 PM
thats an amazing story, i hope the woman gets some help and doesn't try again. i ido miss the pictures for today tho =|)-
Posted by: ben at December 19, 2003 08:57 PM
To you and everyone that stopped and helped.
Well Done
Posted by: Dave at December 19, 2003 09:09 PM
Only yesterday I ran across an accident between a car and a motorbike (2 bad pics on my blog) and the guys helmet and shoe left forgotten on the middle of the road made me feel real strange. I didn't saw him as he had allready been rushed to hospital and I don't even know if he's allright or not, but those objects marked his presence: a man was there and he had been injured, and by the looks of it, badly. I've seen some nasty accidents and some people in really bad shape, but strangely none of them left me so chocked as this one. I don't quite understand why, perhaps because it's Xmas. I hope to have a better nights sleep tonight.
Nicely done, Mike.
(Sorry for the poor english)
Posted by: Luis Duarte at December 19, 2003 10:21 PM
incredible. i wonder what led her to that ledge in the first place. that sounds intense and it will probably stay with you. amazing how so many strangers can band together to protect a life. maybe there's something in humans that, especially when an individual has forsaken their own survival instinct, leads us to instinctively look out for each other.
Posted by: armeen at December 19, 2003 10:36 PM
It doesn't matter how much you did, it matters that you did something to save the poor girl. In most peoples eyes that's pretty damn respectable. I'm pretty sure that in a year or so the young woman will be pretty greatful that someone cared enough to freeze their hand off to hold on to her.
Posted by: Kimu at December 19, 2003 11:24 PM
This story is very intense. I just wonder how hard your heart should have beaten through all this situation. And donīt underestimate your effort, maybe you wasnīt the first at the scene but you made your part and it is a lot more than most of the people would do, thatīs for sure. Iīm glad you did.
Posted by: Marco at December 20, 2003 06:00 AM
I discovered your photolog in August, and have been addicted ever since. I have always loved your photos of the city, but never have I been so deeply moved by one of your entries. It's nice to see how people came together, from all races and creeds, to help this girl.
Posted by: Jess at December 20, 2003 10:28 AM
holy crap. harrowing, to say the least... hope all is well otherwise.
Posted by: rion at December 20, 2003 03:02 PM
I've followed SL for about 6 months (silent stalker-style), but I feel compelled to comment about this.
Two years ago last Tuesday, my friend Marissa jumped the Golden Gate Bridge. When I went down on Tuesday, a bridge cop rode up, mistakenly identifying me as a jumper and clearly attempting to deter me.
I found it supremely ironic that I, a person in no self-endangerment, had been helped. Would that he had been there two years before.
I'm trying (in a roundabout way) to thank you for what you did. It's cliche, but if there were more people like you in the world... maybe Marissa and your Manhattan Bridge girl wouldn't have made it to the outer railings at all.
Posted by: Liz at December 20, 2003 11:28 PM
I'm glad that the girl was saved. I hope all is well.
Posted by: Christopher Trott at December 20, 2003 11:31 PM
It's that "I'm going to kill myself" pic you posted on Dec 15!
Posted by: Keith at December 21, 2003 10:34 AM
am i the only one who thinks that you didnt do a good deed... that girl will probably be miserable for years to come, and wish that no one had fucked up possibly the only time she'd be able to summon enough courage to kill herself... good job.
Posted by: o at December 22, 2003 12:53 PM
If she wanted to kill herself, there wouldn't have been any chance for anyone to save her. People who want to die make it happen.
Mike, it's awesome what you and the others did. Maybe she wasn't entirely convicted to go through with the ordeal, but it could've still happened had you and the others not been there to intervene. Obviously, she gave people time to notice and notice you did, and maybe it'll be the affirming event that will keep her from trying it again.
Thanks for providing one of those examples of the goodness in humanity. They're pretty rare.
Posted by: Steve at December 22, 2003 01:15 PM
I have jumped onto your site through the many links that exist through this tangled internet web. I read the title of your blog is Satan's LaundryMat. I will, probably come back again to figure out what youre blog is about, but I have learnt't over time that names and words do not nessecarly imply what they mean. I think the laundry Mat might be under new managment.
Thanks f
Posted by: internet traveler at December 23, 2003 02:20 AM
Jeez o, I doubt anybody really thought through the ramifications you mention at the time.
People instinctively band together in response to threats. When people try to hurt themselves, other people do what they can to get them to stop. I'd like to read Mike's recollection of his thoughts during this incident. Did he just try to do the right thing as events unfolded?
Posted by: citizen Able at December 23, 2003 10:27 AM
I was pretty much panicking and trying to do whatever people told me to do at first. When I calmed down a little, I tried to get the early-arriving cops to open the crawlspaces under the walkway, but they didn't have any tools. But none of us had even the slightest thought that the right thing to do was to let this girl fall.
Posted by: Mike at December 23, 2003 10:55 AM
She may not have been happy that you (and others) tried to save her on that day, but hopefully one day she will be.
Posted by: kitta at December 23, 2003 11:00 AM
Bless you. Gives me hope for us when I read stuff like that.
Posted by: Y. Bee at December 23, 2003 11:36 AM
I tend to agree with the comment by o.
But I suppose it's an decent instinctive action to stop or save someone from danger or from killing themself.
Posted by: yabanji at December 23, 2003 05:09 PM
well done- i've been up on the bridge many times when it's been totally empty. it was lucky so many people were there.
Posted by: jake at December 23, 2003 06:03 PM
we don't have bridges in LA.
we get hammered and wrap our cars around telephone poles. "accident style" so no one knows we were secretly trying to kill oursleves.
as an alternative, I'm trying more lately to just post bizarre obsessed stories on Craigs List as an alternative.
but seriously, there should be more people like you in the world. don't go changing on us.
Posted by: LA Alcoholic at December 23, 2003 06:45 PM
i don't think you should feel so great for stoping someone from making their own decisions. granted, i don't think its such a great thing, this suicide buisness, i've lost a family member once. all the same, she did what she wanted.
i'm sure that woman is in more pain now than she was in before.
just a thought, but good for you in making your own decisions.
i guess we'll all just keep on imposing our ideals onto others, why change that?
Posted by: medium at December 24, 2003 01:18 PM
Bless you and those with you, who saved a life instead of wondering if you had the courage to act.
Who would deliberately let someone kill themselves? Only those who have already let die something inside themselves.
Posted by: sacre_bleu at December 24, 2003 03:33 PM
You did a great thing by helping save that girl.
Sure, she might think that she wants to kill herself now. But time changes everything.
There is absolutely nothing (possibly except a deadly disease) which is worth killing yourself over.
Posted by: Yevgeniy Leshchinskiy at December 25, 2003 12:03 AM
I'm surprised that some would think letting the girl fall was the best thing to do. If she had really wanted to die she would of just jumped. And people who are suicidal are almost never healthy mentally. I've had two family members who have both tried to kill themselves but thankfully didn't succeed. At the time I know they both truly wanted to die, and it was painful for them not to. But with time they were able to both get help and are happy. It might take a while for this girl you helped to realize how lucky she was to have people there, but if she gets the help she needs she will realize it eventually.
Posted by: anon at December 25, 2003 09:09 AM
i guess you take the _it's a wonderful life appraoch to it, but is it?_
Posted by: amylyn at December 25, 2003 01:59 PM
I'm still sort of flabbergasted that some people here wanted us to just LET HER FALL -- actively remove our hands from her, stop pulling her up, and drop her over the edge to her death. And then listen for the splash.
Debate all you want, folks, but if you found yourself in this situation, would you really let someone die in front of you? Really?
Posted by: Mike at December 25, 2003 06:29 PM
I think the "easy" part is saving this girl from her death; the "hard" part is saving this girl from her life.
Posted by: jeddings at December 29, 2003 10:39 AM
She wanted to jump and she didn't. Her bag was lying out on the roadway for anyone to see and she was standing on the ledge and had not jumped yet. She may have strained against the hands that were holding her but she could have broken free by wiggling/wrestling away. She wanted help and hopefully it will be given to her.
Posted by: Francesca at January 2, 2004 12:07 PM
Dear Readers,
The person who took the time to stop that night is my friend. I must agree with those of you who recognize her kindness and bravery. I am not sure if it would have been my first reaction, while jogging across the Manhatten Bridge at night, to stop and ask someone if they are ok.
Maybe there is an easier, kinder, and more peaceful reality on the other side of this thing we call life?? I don't know, but I do know as I pass through to whatever waits for me, I hope to encounter more people like my friend.
More who stop, set fear aside, set their own life aside, and reach out to those who feel hopeless and want the journey to end. Living life can be so difficult, I am grateful to have my friend.
Posted by: leigh at January 3, 2004 12:26 PM
We do have bridges in L.A. by the way.
the Vincent Thomas Bridge being the largest. It spans over the L.A. harbor and was prominent in the opening scene of To Live and Die in LA, a movie from the 80s. In that scene the main protagonist base jumps to the water below.
There are numerous bridges in downtown that cross the L.A river. A vast concrete chanel that also makes occasional appearances in Hollywood flics.
No real jumpers that I know of yet though.
Posted by: Seyfarth at February 4, 2004 09:55 PM
My gut goes with 'you did the right thing' scenario. My best friend killed himself and when he did, it was alone and in a way no one could stop him. After paying more attention to literature on suicide after that, you realize that people who do it in a way where they can be stopped tend to be calling out for help, not actually trying to kill themselves. Whether they kill themselves later depends more on the response to their attempt by the people in their lives who matter to them.
Posted by: Matt Koegler at February 29, 2004 02:04 PM
wow ppl r always sending me those stupid forwards about those stories and this is really really important and i think that it was a really good thing that u stoped and helped that person.
Posted by: amber at November 27, 2004 01:49 AM
OK, It's likely that the girl wanted help, as has been argued by the fact of her letting herself be seen. But let's just stop a moment and check the motivations of those who say suicides should be prevented from achieving their goal: most of the reasonings go like this "I would feel terrible if let somebody commit suicide". It's quite a selfish motivation. As has been very intelligently commented by "jeddings", none of the involved are helping with the really hard part, saving her from her life. So it's mostly a "feel good" situation (after all, bearing witness and participating to help in a life that leads someone to suicide is anything but a "feel good" situation)... Just a thought. I'm not critizicing you. Most people under such stressful situations don't stop and think what to do, just react, unless they are trained to do otherwise.
Which leads me to the post by Luis Duarte: the motorcycle accident might have been made worse by well-meaning people (the same ones that try to prevent people from killing themselves). I'm a motorcycle rider and know that one of the most fragile areas in the human body, specially vulnerable in a crash, is the neck. Motorcycle helmets are designed to be tight fitting and requiere quite a deal of force to be removed from the head. In case of an accident,it's far better to leave them in place and have them removed with a saw at the hospital, otherwise a lot of great damage can be done to the neck vertebrae and the spinal cord.
Finally, I love your pictures.