Good Samaritans stepped up to help deputies and firefighters save a man who was threatening to jump from a bridge in Canyon Country Monday evening.
The situation played out in a matter of moments. Officials said if it weren't for the efforts of people passing by, and the first responders, a young man may have lost his life.
"I was maybe two minutes away, I was very close," said Jacob Royston, Santa Clarita Valley Deputy Sheriff. He responded to a frantic call from a driver about a man threatening to take his life by jumping 100 feet off Whites Canyon Road Bridge.
"The first thing I did, I walked up I started talking to him and he started to tell me he was going to kill himself that he didn't want to live anymore," said Royston. "I reached through the bars and I grabbed his leg."
Santa Clarita Valley Deputy Jorge Garcia said the man fought hard to get away.
"He was very determined," said Garcia. "He was like no I don't want to live. I want to go. You don't care about me, I'm going to do it."
While firefighters from station 107 positioned an airbag and ladder, people passing by stopped to help hold on to the man.
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"He would slip away or pull or try and kick and we would lose grasp of him," said Royston. "He would have fallen if there had not been other people on the scene there."
Steve Mendez was one of many people who held on to the struggling man. He described how someone loaded them a rope to wrap around the man twice and hold home the fire department came by.
"Without them, there would have been a very different outcome because there were more hands on this guy preventing him from falling," said Royston.
If you or someone you know is going through suicidal thoughts call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
