Thread: Today, I saved a life...

I feel like talking to someone, and since noone is here with me, I decided to share it here, just to get it out of my system.
I always thought saving a life would be accompanied by a special feeling. Oddly enough, I was rather 'meh' about it. I just can't stop thinking about it, which is why I am writing this down here.

This morning, we decided to go out for breakfast. It's something we do once a month, give or take. The place we normally go to (because they have the perfect breakfast) was closed. Possibly because of the fair. So we decided to go someplace else that was just close by. As we are driving along a very busy road, we see a 25 year-ish women walking on the side of the road. Not on the safe sidewalk, but the actual road. As we pass her by, we notice that she look distraught and dazed, so I tell my wife to stop the car and I get out to check.

I get out and go to the woman. I notice that she indeed seems dazed, and is crying hysterically. My first Idea was that she'd had an accident, or was robbed or something like that. I try talking with her to figure out, while at the same time gently using my arm to guide her away from the road. I needed to ask het a couple of times because I couldn't understand her. After a couple of times, I could make out the words 'boyfriend' and 'I don't want to live anymore'...

My first thought was 'damn. I am -so- the wrong person for dealing with this'. I am not exactly Mr Compassion when dealing with relationship stupidity. In fact half an hour earlier, I had been ranting about some relationship stupidity I heard about on the radio. But I looked around and there was noone else, so that made me the best qualified person around. Taking care to guard my tongue, I opened the conversation with something like 'Is there anyone you can talk to, like a sister?'. She replied that noone understood her, and she was going to kill herself.

I told her that I thought jumping in front of a car was not a good solution, and she said she didn't care. And my second, shameful thought during that encounter was 'At least you could choose a clean way out that wouldn't traumatize the passengers of the car running you over'. Again, I didn't voice my thoughts because a suicidal person might actually do that and I didn't want to have that on my conscience. It would be as helpful as yelling at a depressed person to snap out of it. And again, she had drifted towards the road and I gently guided her back for the second or third time.

In the meantime, an older woman had arrived, and told the girl to get in the car so she could drive her home, which she refused. A minute later, the woman's daughter arrived as well, and they filled me in. Apparently, the girl was the ex of the woman's son. Or so she thought. I don't know what their history was of course, and how much there was to the story. In any case, I feel that the girl believed it to be so, nevermind what really happened. And she had been there before a couple of times, making a scene. It was clear to me that the other women were not that impressed, or paying attention. They were exchanging words though I don't recall any of it. And at a certain point she got livid, and yelled 'than I have nothing to live for', turned around and launched herself right in front of a speeding white SUV (which I don't recall seeing, my wife told me).

Thank God, I had been expecting such a thing ever since the moment I thought she was suicidal. I had been standing at ease, yet fully alert, like how I am when waiting for an attack in MA class. And I had stayed close to her. The second I saw her turn and launch herself, I stepped in and lashed out, grabbed her upper arm and yanked her off her feet with 1 hand and pulled her backfrom the car while the 2 other women were still standing there with a look of panic on their faces. At that point they each grabbed an arm and restrained her. They got her to calm down and said they were calling the cops. The girl seemed to have calmed down somewhat and she seemed to have snapped out of her suicidal intentions because she wanted to get away from the street, back to her car. At that point it seemed to become a women's argument again as well. I asked if I could do anything else, but they told me it was under control now. I decided to leave at that point, since I thought that the feeling of the situation had changed. My wife filled me in on the things I had missed.

Would she have died today...
I do not know. I am not God. I am convinced she jumped for real, and would have succeeded had I not prevented it. And my wife told me she was right in front of a speeding SUV. I don't even remember it, like much of what happened. Looking back, it seemed inevitable that she would have died. I am glad that she didn't. Though if she does not gather her senses, she will succeed.

As I said, I thought I'd feel different, yet strangely, I didn't. Then again, there were no heroics required on my part. I was just very lucky that I was alert.
It just feels weird.