Holding on for a hero

Mr A and I were on our way to Laura’s tonight and spotted something, out of the corner of our eyes, that didn’t look quite right. So we stopped.

As we walked from the layby, sadly what we thought we’d seen was true. A young girl had climbed over the barrier and was on the edge of the bridge over the canal.

As she was facing away from us, she didn’t see us approach, so Mr A was able to grab her and spent virtually the next 15 minutes gripping on and talking to her.

I had dialled 999 as we’d approached her and had to stay on the line until the police and fire service arrived (15 minutes later).

What shocked us the most was how few people stopped; considering we were on the side of a busy dual carriageway. One lady stopped but left when I said we were ok and the police were on the way.
Another guy stopped and helped hold the girl to ease a bit of pressure off Mr A. He got his wife on the phone; she was a clinical psychologist so was able to talk to the girl and offer some help.

She did eventually agree to climb over the railings and the police took over from there.

One of the policemen told me she was known to them; she’s caught in a vicious circle of suicide attempts, hospitalisation and discharge every few months.

We hope she gets the help that she needs and are glad we are so glad we spotted her before she could come to any harm.

DQ x