The Student Room Group

I watched someone jump off a bridge today..

I was driving over the bridge in my town today when I saw a man climbing on the wall of the bridge so I slowed down and all of a sudden he jumped right off and disappeared from sight. I of course stopped immediately and ran over to try and see if I could spot him. He had some how survived the drop and was trying to push his head under the water..I rang 999 as fast as I could but even when the emergency services came no one could do anything..he was right out in the middle, the currents in the river are very strong and there were no boats to help and no time to do anything else. More people came and watched but nothing was done so he eventually after about 30 minutes he disappeared from sight under the water. It was surreal...time stood still and it just felt like everyone was watching him dying..doing nothing. I'm pretty shook up about it, I've never witnessed anything like that before. I just can't help wondering what could be so bad in that mans life that would make him want to do that. It's not even like he jumped and regretted it..tried to save himself..even after he survived he still kept going..forcing his head under the water. I just get that horrible feeling of guilt now that I should have done something even though I would probably have died trying..I guess its just the shock.

Has anyone else ever had anything like this happen to them? Or even know someone that has taken their own life? Its a very sad thing really..if someone could have just talked to him before he jumped and made him see sense maybe things would not have ended that way.

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Reply 1
To be honest if he was in the sort of state of mind to kill himself he would have been extremely depressed and nobody would have been able to talk him round.

I feel very sorry that you had to witness that. Have you spoken to anyone about it today (apart from on here, obviously)? Does your uni have a Nightline you can call if you don't feel you can talk to anyone around you about it?
Reply 2
That's terrible, ring the samaritans or something. Nobody on here can help you make sense of what you've seen
Im actually still at school doing my A levels..but I talked to my friends there. They helped a bit but to be honest unless someone was there or been in that sort of situation before they won't really be an awful lot of help.

Maybe your right that he couldn't have been stopped but I wouldn't be so sure..this happened once before in my town accept the man was talked out of it before he went through with it. I guess we'll never know
Reply 4
poor man :frown:

Its not something you should feel bad about. He was obviously very depressed and you couldn't have done anything to change his mind, even if you had the opportunity. Just be thankful for what you have and make the best of your own life.
Reply 5
In that case it might be an idea to ring the Samaritans, just to talk it through and make it clearer in your mind. Given that you're still at school/college you can also ring Childline if you're more comfortable with ringing them than the Samaritans.
I have a family member who committed suicide a few years ago, and also know someone from school who did it... never actually seen it happen though. It is a shock and I cant even comprehend what state of mind someone must be in to want to do that, and especially how they dont seem to realise how much its going to effect people around them!
Dont feel bad for not going in after him, if he wanted to die so badly that he was pushing his own head underwater he probably would have found another way to do it once he'd been rescued.
I really hope you're okay; as people have said, you have no reason to feel guilty whatsoever.
Reply 8
hayles101
I just get that horrible feeling of guilt now that I should have done something even though I would probably have died trying..I guess its just the shock.


I know it's hard but try not to dwell on this - you shouldn't be guilty of anything, it's not like he asked you to be there, you were just a passer by who happened to be there when he decided to jump.

Also, it may not help, but these things happen quite often. Here in Newcastle people jumping off the Tyne Bridge is not such a rare occurrence - whilst yes it's an awful thing to happen, they do happen and there's nothing we, as innocent bystanders, can do to help.

And there is no way in hell that you would have been able to (or should have) help him. Feel happy that he has ended whatever misery he was going through, as unfortunate as that sounds.
hayles101
I was driving over the bridge in my town today when I saw a man climbing on the wall of the bridge so I slowed down and all of a sudden he jumped right off and disappeared from sight. I of course stopped immediately and ran over to try and see if I could spot him. He had some how survived the drop and was trying to push his head under the water..I rang 999 as fast as I could but even when the emergency services came no one could do anything..he was right out in the middle, the currents in the river are very strong and there were no boats to help and no time to do anything else. More people came and watched but nothing was done so he eventually after about 30 minutes he disappeared from sight under the water. It was surreal...time stood still and it just felt like everyone was watching him dying..doing nothing. I'm pretty shook up about it, I've never witnessed anything like that before. I just can't help wondering what could be so bad in that mans life that would make him want to do that. It's not even like he jumped and regretted it..tried to save himself..even after he survived he still kept going..forcing his head under the water. I just get that horrible feeling of guilt now that I should have done something even though I would probably have died trying..I guess its just the shock.

Has anyone else ever had anything like this happen to them? Or even know someone that has taken their own life? Its a very sad thing really..if someone could have just talked to him before he jumped and made him see sense maybe things would not have ended that way.

There is nothing at all that you could have done (that you did not do) which would have been useful in that situation. He wanted to die and he died. You don't want to die, so jumping into a river with a strong current would have been an awful idea. It is hard to know what caused him to feel that he would be better off dead than alive. But there is no objective "sense" that he could have seen; for all anyone knows his life had become unbearable. You should probably talk to someone about it - people get all sorts of post-traumatic issues after this sort of thing.
Wow that is terrible. I can't imagine seeing something like that.

I say give the samaritans or something a ring if you are feeling shook up about it.

x
I don't know the answer to that..I was just happy that he was alive while he was and hadnt disappeared under the water at that point..he most certainly wanted to drown as he was seen pushing his head under the water..
Reply 12
I can really understand how you are feeling. A few years back I saw a whole family burn to death in a car. I was quite young, maybe 11, I was so chocked I didn't know what to do. There were a couple of more people there eventhough no one could do anything cause the whole thing was alight and you couldn't get near. My mum did try to get a little girl out of the car but then she caught fire too. It was really horrid. My mum was fine by the way but all of the family died except the two parents. They had to watch their 5 children burn to dust.

It's something that fades with time. I don't think of it very often nowadays but it's still there. I do think you should talk to someone profesional though. That can really help, if only to help you sort out your attitude to what you have seen and how you relate to the event. It helps if you get it explained to you that there is nothing you could have done. It's hard to accept by yourself, i think so at least.

I'm very sorry you had to watch that.
hayles101
I don't know the answer to that..I was just happy that he was alive while he was and hadnt disappeared under the water at that point..he most certainly wanted to drown as he was seen pushing his head under the water..
Ignore him. He is a ****-for-brains by-the-numbers 'rebel'. He doesn't know what he is talking about, ever, and for some reason sees fit to raise an inappropriate and most likely false point.
punktopia
Stereotyping ftw!!!11 Idiot.

I don't know what I'd have done, but it does seem a bit strange that he wasn't floating away in the "strong current".

"punktopia" + 'anarchy' + your idiot attempts at trying to sound like you even know the first thing about politics... I think you've stereotyped yourself there hun.

Anyway this is completely offtopic. Sorry OP.
punktopia
Stereotyping ftw!!!11 Idiot.

I don't know what I'd have done, but it does seem a bit strange that he wasn't floating away in the "strong current".


So what are you saying..that what I said isnt true. I just told the story exactly how it happened and why he didnt float away I dont know...I didnt think about stuff like that when it was happening..I was more worried about the man staying above the water
Reply 16
The Solitary Reaper
Ignore him. He is a ****-for-brains by-the-numbers 'rebel'. He doesn't know what he is talking about, ever, and for some reason sees fit to raise an inappropriate and most likely false point.


If you disagree with my opinion, perhaps you should try to be a little more civilised rather than (predictably) attempting to stereotype me and insult my intelligence.
Reply 17
punktopia
I don't know what I'd have done, but it does seem a bit strange that he wasn't floating away in the "strong current".


Then contact the local police force and ask them. Hayles quite clearly is in a fragile and shaken condition after having seen a guy jump over a bridge to kill himself.

Fine there wasn't a strong current - I doubt she's a hydrological expert. She just described what she saw. Asking questions like the one you asked doesn't help the OP at all, there is no advice there.

Hayles - as "solitary reaper" says, just ignore him! :rolleyes:
Reply 18
dobbs
Then contact the local police force and ask them. Hayles quite clearly is in a fragile and shaken condition after having seen a guy jump over a bridge to kill himself.

Fine there wasn't a strong current - I doubt she's a hydrological expert. She just described what she saw. Asking questions like the one you asked doesn't help the OP at all, there is no advice there.

Hayles - as "solitary reaper" says, just ignore him! :rolleyes:


I'm merely pointing out that he probably didn't want to die on some level, and I'm surprised that someone didn't attempt to save him. As for Hayes, well, she'll get over it, she at least has that option.
punktopia
I'm merely pointing out that he probably didn't want to die on some level, and I'm surprised that someone didn't attempt to save him. As for Hayes, well, she'll get over it, she at least has that option.


Do you not think that the members of each of the emergency services that were there would have tried to save him had they thought there was any safe way of doing that without drowning themselves. As I said their were no boats and nothing anyone could have done as he was out in the middle of the river. I wish he could have been helped..I really do and it was extremely difficult having to just stand there and watch him while no one did anything..your posts are not being very helpful at all