Woman Rescues Man From Attempted Bridge Suicide

A man on the bank of the Yellow River. Natalie Behring-Chisholm/Getty Images

A man was saved from jumping off a bridge to his possible death by a young woman, much smaller than himself. She held on to him for 40 seconds over the railing of the bridge before help arrived, according to various mainland China news sources.

The man attempted to jump from a large bridge in Henan Province, China, on March 23, at about 6 p.m. Footage captured him by the railing, and a female worker running over to him. As he crawls over the railing, she grabs him and holds on to him until help arrives moments later.

The woman, named Jin Chan, said she instinctively grabbed him when he tried to jump. The man, last name Liu, was said to have attempted suicide due to financial problems.

Saved on the Bridge

In footage captured by traffic cameras, a white van stops on the side of the road, and Liu, dressed in all black, gets out of the car. He squats down on the sidewalk, looking through the railing at the Yellow River, and talks on the phone.

Jin comes over to him, wearing her bright yellow work jacket. She attempts to talk to Liu, but he ignores her, and continues to talk on the phone. She faces away from him, and appears to make a phone call as well.

“He was on the ground, crying, and talking on the phone, then I went over and asked him what was the matter,” Liu said in an interview with Metropolis Channel after the incident.

Suddenly, Liu stands up, and crawls over the railing. Jin runs over, and grabs his arm.

“I instinctively ran over and grabbed him,” Liu said in the interview. “When I grabbed him, I said ‘Whatever you do, don’t let go, hold on to me.’ I told him how young he was, and he absolutely shouldn’t take things so hard.”

“His body was already all the way over, and his hand was here, and I grabbed him about right here [on the wrist],” Liu said in the interview. “I was only thinking about saving him at the time, just save him, and I wasn’t thinking about anything else.”

According to the report, Liu didn’t speak to anyone during the incident and just cried.

“When I was holding on to him, I felt a force pulling me downward, and I was really muddleheaded. I was constantly thinking that I need someone to come help me. Then, after several tens of seconds later, a lot of kind hearted drivers saw it, and they got out and helped me pull him back over.”

Jin said this was the first time she ever encountered such an incident.