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It took decades, but San Francisco finally installs nets to stop suicides off Golden Gate Bridge (apnews.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world
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Kevin Hines regretted jumping off San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge the moment his hands released the rail and he plunged the equivalent of 25 stories into the Pacific Ocean, breaking his back.

Hines miraculously survived his suicide attempt at age 19 in September 2000 as he struggled with bipolar disorder, one of about 40 people who survived after jumping off the bridge.

Hines, his father, and a group of parents who lost their children to suicide at the bridge relentlessly advocated for a solution for two decades, meeting resistance from people who did not want to alter the iconic landmark with its sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.

On Wednesday, they finally got their wish when officials announced that crews have installed stainless-steel nets on both sides of the 1.7-mile (2.7-kilometer) bridge.

“Had the net been there, I would have been stopped by the police and gotten the help I needed immediately and never broken my back, never shattered three vertebrae, and never been on this path I was on,” said Hines, now a suicide prevention advocate. “I’m so grateful that a small group of like-minded people never gave up on something so important.”

Nearly 2,000 people have plunged to their deaths since the bridge opened in 1937.

City officials approved the project more than a decade ago, and in 2018 work began on the 20-foot-wide (6-meter-wide) stainless steel mesh nets. But the efforts to complete them were repeatedly delayed until now.

The nets — placed 20 feet (6 meters) down from the bridge’s deck — are not visible from cars crossing the bridge. But pedestrians standing by the rails can see them. They were built with marine-grade stainless steel that can withstand the harsh environment that includes salt water, fog and strong winds that often envelop the striking orange structure at the mouth of the San Francisco Bay.

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[-] Woodstream@toast.ooo 39 points 2 years ago

Reminds me of that Bojack Horseman poem.

"But this is it, the deed is done silence drowns the sound. Before I leaped I should've seen the view from halfway down.

I really should’ve thought about the view from halfway down. I wish I could've known about the view from halfway down—"

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

It's a fucking amazing poem and had me in tears the first time I saw that episode.

People falling that 30 feet and being stopped in the act may help them see that jumping, or suicide in general is not the answer.

[-] chitak166@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Great show.

[-] idunnololz@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

The weak breeze whispers nothing

The water screams sublime

His feet shift, teeter-totter

Deep breath, stand back, it’s time

Toes untouch the overpass

Soon he’s water bound

Eyes locked shut but peek to see

The view from halfway down

A little wind, a summer sun

A river rich and regal

A flood of fond endorphins

Brings a calm that knows no equal

You’re flying now

You see things much more clear than from the ground

It’s all okay, it would be

Were you not now halfway down

Thrash to break from gravity

What now could slow the drop

All I’d give for toes to touch

The safety back at top

But this is it, the deed is done

Silence drowns the sound

Before I leaped I should’ve seen

The view from halfway down

I really should’ve thought about

The view from halfway down

I wish I could’ve known about

The view from halfway down

this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
417 points (96.6% liked)

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