Hero Scout saves suicidal woman’s life by hanging onto her legs for half an hour
A teenager has been praised for his ‘good deed for the day’ after he saved a woman’s life by hanging onto her legs for 30 minutes to prevent her from committing suicide.
Jonathan Cook was on his way back from Scouts when he saw the unnamed woman approach the edge of the A4074 bridge in Oxford.
Without hesitation, the brave 17-year-old ran to save her and resorted to grabbing onto the woman’s legs after attempting to coax the distressed woman down.
He revealed: “I was on the bridge and I saw a car drive up towards the other end of the bridge and I did not think much of it.
"I saw someone get out of the car and I saw her climb up onto the front of her car and at this point I was unnerved as to what was going on.
"She was leaning over the high railings and I just broke into a bit of a run.
"I ran up to her and tried talking to her to get her down but she was telling me to "pretend I had not seen her” so I just grabbed her legs and refused to let go.“
Jonathan, who lives in Sandford, managed to get his phone out of his pocket and telephone his parents for help but it took him 30 minutes before he could get through to them.
The student from St Gregory the Great sixth form said that he and his step-mum were eventually able to coax the woman down from the car before she left with the police.
Incident: The woman approached the edge of a bridge on the A4074 (Geograph)
Jonathan added: “I was so relieved when I saw her safe, I just could not let her go ahead with it.”
The teenager was not able to find out the woman’s name or where she lived, and has not had contact with her since.
After the incident, which happened at around 10pm on Friday, May 20, Jonathan was honoured with a Royal Humane Society certificate of commendation.
Dick Wilkinson, secretary of the Royal Humane Society, said: “Put simply Jonathan was the right person in the right place at the right time. And thank goodness he was.
"If he had not been there and the woman had succeeded in jumping it’s impossible to say what sort of chaos and carnage might have resulted.
"Jonathan spent half an hour holding on to the woman preventing her from jumping before help arrived.
"He richly deserves the award. He was a true hero.”
If you are feeling depressed or suicidal you can contact The Samaritans by calling 116 123 at any time or email jo@samaritans.org
Top pic: SWNS
