He’s Got To See That Someone Cares
In Michigan, State Police had 13 semi-trucks line up underneath a highway overpass to help save the life of a man contemplating suicide.
According to Fox News 2, police closed all lanes of Interstate 696 at Coolidge when a man threatened to commit suicide by jumping off the overpass.
Negotiators from the Michigan State Police, Huntington Woods, and Oak Park police departments talked to the man for several hours. While people were trying to talk him down, Michigan State Police organized 13 semi-trucks into a line across the highway.
If he jumped, police reasoned with a truck below him, the fall would be a much shorter distance and he’d have a better chance of surviving than if he fell from the overpass onto the highway.
“That’s a practice we use if we have a jumper,” Hunting Woods Police Sgt. Jason Brockdorff told The Detroit News. “We try to do it every time, to lessen the distance someone would travel if they were to jump.”
Fortunately, the man walked off the bridge and was peacefully taken by Huntington Woods Police to Beaumont hospital for an evaluation.
The Metro State Police Department shared a photo of the group effort on Twitter and noted that it’s an example of how far law enforcement and benevolent truckers will go to serve the public.”
However, the department also explained that the photo doesn’t capture the man who was struggling with the decision of whether he should take his own life. They encouraged anyone in a similar position to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
