Washington Bridge Teenager ‘Asked For a Push,’ Friend Says

Jordan Holgerson suffered five broken ribs, a punctured lung, and other internal injuries on Aug. 7, 2018. Screenshot/KGW

The teenager who pushed her friend off a 60-foot-tall bridge has said that her friend asked for the push.

Taylor Smith, 18, pushed Jordan Holgerson, 16, off the bridge in Moulton Falls Regional Park on Aug. 7.

Holgerson suffered six broken ribs, punctured lungs, and internal injuries after the fall into the East Fork of the Lewis River.

“She wanted to jump and she was scared, and she had asked me to give her a push,” said Smith in a televised interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” show.

The pushing incident was captured on video, showing Holgerson hesitant on the top of a bridge before someone pushes her.

Jail Time

Smith’s comments follow Holgerson speaking about how she thought her friend should spend time in jail for her action.

“Well at first I didn’t really want Taylor to get in trouble, but now that I’ve thought about it more, I’m kind of wanting her to sit in jail and think about at least what she did,” Holgerson told NBC’s “Today” on Aug. 16.

“I kind of got mad because the rest of my summer’s gone and I’m probably going to be recovering for the rest of the school year,” Holgerson said.

“I thought she would be fine,” Smith said in the ABC interview. “She wanted to jump, she just was scared she wouldn’t be able to.”

“I didn’t think about the consequences,” she added.

Clark County prosecutor’s office said it is considering criminal charges for Smith.

‘She Could Have Killed My Daughter’

Holgerson’s mother told CBS News that the person who pushed her daughter off the bridge should turn herself into the police.

“My daughter’s going to have a long road to recovery and I think that [the person responsible] should probably just turn herself in—realize what she did wrong. This is not OK. She could have killed my daughter,” Genelle Holgerson said.

Smith said that it was “a little shocking” but “understandable” that her friend would like to see her behind bars.

“She’s probably going through a lot of confusion,” she said, saying that Holgerson had forgiven her at first.

“At the beginning she was like, ‘You’re fine, I know you didn’t mean to hurt me,’ and now she just doesn’t answer,” she said.

She said she was scared to be facing charges for the incident.

“I accept whatever the prosecutor thinks is best for me considering I caused not only bodily harm but emotional trauma as well,” Smith said. ”But I just hope for the best, and I'll accept whatever the prosecutor, I guess, gives me.”