She jumped but, her skirts was a ‘parachute’All Bristol is today recalling a story that outstrips fiction - a story too good to be true, but one that really happened - the miraculous escape from death over 60 years ago of a young woman who jumped from the Suspension Bridge - and lived!
She jumped, the story goes, after a lovers quarrel, but, her skirts acting as a ‘parachute’, she landed in the mud.
Sarah Ann Henley was the girl who jumped. She was 22. It happened on May 8th 1885.
Sarah Ann’s jump has become legend. It is recorded in the official history of the Suspension Bridge. What really happened?
The story: Sara received a letter from her fiancé breaking up their engagement. In a state of despair she rushed to end her life by the jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge. That particular morning there was a slight wind blowing and Sarah’s skirt was inflated (acting like a parachute) and considerably slowed down her decent. The wind also prevented her falling straight into the water. Sarah lived a full life and died in 1948. Her incredible luck gave her an extra 62 years of life.
Brooklyn Bridge jumper survives without scratchA despondent woman bent on suicide not only survived a 10-story leap from the Brooklyn Bridge Monday - she was barely scratched.
The woman was quickly plucked from the chilly East River waters by an NYPD Harbor Unit after several witnesses called 911, police said.
“She’s alive - no broken bones or anything,” marveled a police source
Police sources said she was not carrying identification but was able to tell rescuers her name was Michelle.
He jumped but, he was caught by some extending rocksMartin Hinchcliffe After writing a note to his mother saying he would kill himself he walked to Sugar Lump cliff on Beachy Head and jumped. 35 feet into his fall he was caught by some extending rocks and was completely hidden from view in a deep crevasse. After spending 72 hours holding on to the cliffs, his cries were finally heard by a man walking on the beach below.
Hinchcliffe suffered a broken leg and cracked several ribs. He said he sucked on rocks during the 72 hours to avoid dehydration.
Man Survives Suicide Jump From Golden Gate BridgeYears ago, when Kevin Hines was in high school, he started hearing voices. His torment became so intense that he finally decided to kill himself. One day, as usual, he attended his first class, then took a bus to the bridge, crying all the way. Hines picked his spot and stood there for 40 minutes. No one approached him to ask what was wrong and when a tourist came up and asked whether he could take her photo, Hines thought that was clear proof that no one cared. He took the picture, and then jumped. Instantly he realized he had made a mistake and thought to himself “God save me”. As he was falling Hines came up with a plan to save his life, and threw his head back and tried to hit feet first. Hines was hurtled 40 feet underwater but miraculously survived. Hines endured arduous physical rehabilitation after his near-death experience, but said dealing with his bipolar disorder had been far more difficult. He now lives by a strict schedule, and has found a combination of drugs and therapy that allows him to regulate his manic highs and depressions. Currently, Hines works with several mental health groups and suicide prevention hot lines.
With a broken leg but aliveA Brooklyn woman fought off a rescue attempt and plunged more than 200 feet from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1995 but survived after being plucked within seconds from the chilly waters of Lower New York Bay, the police said.
The woman, Connie Mercure, 29, was listed in critical but stable condition at Lutheran Medical Center with a broken leg, extensive internal bleeding and hypothermia after jumping from the midpoint of the bridge. The bridge, which connects Staten Island and Brooklyn, is about 230 feet above the water at high tide.
She was upset over a failed relationship, said Officer Bernadette Rainy, a police spokeswoman. The police said it was rare for someone to survive a jump from the bridge. In 1989, a Staten Island woman survived a jump and was later seen walking on a nearby beach. In 1975, a New Jersey college student survived a leap.
Survived 140-foot leap and suffered only bruises to his ribsIn 2001 26 year old Matthew Sicoli, after a fight with his girlfriend and job woes walked on the pedestrian lane toward the center of the Throgs Neck Bridge. Authorities spotted Sicoli kneeling and then watched in horror as he hopped over a railing and disappeared. Police quickly mounted a rescue effort and saved Sicoli in less than 10 minutes. Matthew survived the 140-foot leap and suffered only bruises to his ribs, stomach and face. It is estimated he went into the East River hitting the water at 64 mph. Sicoli’s 51-year-old mother committed suicide by jumping off the Whitestone Bridge just five years earlier.
The force of the impact ripped his clothes off. Hans Jones, on May 30, 2001, after several business pressures, heavy drinking and a horrible fight with his wife, decided to jump off the bridge in a suicide attempt. He survived the jump.The force of the impact ripped Jones’s clothes off. Despite multiple rib fractures, internal bleeding and a collapsed lung, he was able to swim to the rocks near one of the pylons. He was sitting there naked when rescuers arrived, and then spent weeks in the hospital recovering.
He jumped but,his survival instincts took overDid Belizaire was thousands of dollars in debt. After a night of big losses, he tried to commit suicide by jumping off of the Jacques Cartier Bridge.
Bélizaire survived the jump and was unable to force himself to drown because his survival instincts took over. The jump cost Bélizaire the use of his legs and is now a paraplegic.
Bélizaire takes every opportunity he can to tell young people his story and sound the alarm against compulsive gambling.
Incredibly, he had a change of heart as he plunged 174 feet,increasing speed to approximately 70 mph
From his Wallingford halfway house, 22-year-old John Dittmann had a view of the Aurora Bridge and not much else.
He felt suicidal, blaming it on his daily regimen of gulping tranquilizers to treat mental illness and drinking alcohol to offset the pills. Depression had set in. He hated his life.
Dittmann stared at the bridge for three weeks before marching up to it just before 11 p.m. on May 28, 1979. Standing precariously outside the east rail, he looked down and saw only darkness and certain death. Then he jumped.
But his story did not end with a splash.
Incredibly, Dittmann had a change of heart as he plunged 174 feet, increasing speed to approximately 70 mph. He had about three seconds to think.“At that point, I decided I didn’t want to die,” he said.
Frantically, Dittmann threw his arms back and fought to keep his body from pitching forward. He strained to keep his feet extended. He hit Lake Union with a crack, struggled to find the surface and swam meekly to shore.Dittmann fractured his back and injured his lungs, but he lived.