Oops, my bad. Yes, what wonderful people! Individuals who have taken on special roles in life, just because they are special people. Over the years, I've only read 3 or 4 stories of Don Ritchie, and years ago heard one interview with him. Chen Si, was new.
One little more on Don Ritchie. I remember in the interview he did say he had no idea of how many he had saved. The number does not detract from his humanitarian mission, course, but just mention it as this article cuts the 400 to 160 ..
Meet the Australian Who's Saved 160 People from Suicide
Don Ritchie lives across the street from the most famous suicide spot in Australia: A cliff known as "The Gap." Most people would move, but Ritchie's stayed for almost 50 years—saving an estimated 160 people from suicide.
So what's his big secret? Ritchie wakes up every morning and looks out the window for "anyone standing alone too close to the precipice." If he sees someone who looks like they might be contemplating a jump, he walks over and... strikes up a conversation.
He just gives them a warm smile, asks if they'd like to talk and invites them back to his house for tea. Sometimes, they join him.
"I'm offering them an alternative, really," Ritchie says. "I always act in a friendly manner. I smile."
Ritchie's house might be the worst real estate ever. One person a week commits suicide at the "the Gap," the cliff he lives across from. It's protected only by a small, one-meter fence, despite its legendary reputation as a suicide spot dating back to the 1800s.
But the former life insurance salesman says he doesn't feel "burdened" by the fact that people are always contemplating jumping to their deaths outside his house. In fact, he and his wife Moya see it as a blessing: "I think, 'Isn't it wonderful that we live here and we can help people?'"
Obviously, he's not always successful, and, at times, he's had to physically restrain people from jumping while Moya calls the police. But it isn't necessarily traumatic:
Despite all he has seen, he says he is not haunted by the ones who were lost. He cannot remember the first suicide he witnessed, and none have plagued his nightmares. He says he does his best with each person, and if he loses one, he accepts that there was nothing more he could have done.
Ritchie, who basically sounds like the nicest guy in the entire world, is 84, and has spent much of the last year battling cancer. But, as you might expect for a dude who's managed to live across from a fucked-up, tragic place, and not become a casualty himself, he's optimistic: "I imagine somebody else will come along and do what I've been doing." I hope so. .. [AP] http://gawker.com/5563648/meet-the-australian-whos-saved-160-people-from-suicide
and one more on Chen Si ..
Chen Si: Angel on the Yangtze Bridge 2007-01-18 15:05:28
Chen Si is an average migrant worker from eastern China's Nanjing. What good deeds has he performed?
He has stopped 104 people from jumping off the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in the last three years.
He has talked and, in some cases, even wrestled them down.
He has done all this for free.
On September 10, 2003, while Chen Si was walking along the bridge, he saw a person jumping off the bridge.
"The man's head was crushed. Why did he jump off the bridge? I was confused. If there were one person by his side talking to him, maybe he could have been saved."
Chen Si couldn't figure out what misery could make a man give up his life for good, even in his hardest time. He thought back to his own experiences and the help he received from an old friend during some dark times.
Back in 1999, 21-year-old Chen Si came from a small village to work in the large city of Nanjing. His supervisor cheated him of three months of pay.
With no money nor a place to live, a distant relative offered a helping hand. The old man led Chen Si to a new life with his optimism. Sadly, such a cheerful and open-minded man starved himself to death a few years later.
It came as a shock to Chen Si.
The unexpected death of this loving relative of his made him want to do something to help desperate souls.
Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge seemed the perfect place for him.
More than 2,000 people have committed suicide on this haunting bridge.
He decided to take action. Chen Si watched for that unknowable, unthinkable moment when one of thousands of people who cross the bridge every day might try to jump to kill themselves. He became the first of his kind throughout China.
September 19, 2003 was the first day of his patrol on the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.
At 11:30 in the morning, he found a target.
"I saw this guy. He parked his bike and smoked one cigarette after another. I could sense something was wrong with him, but I didn't have any experience at the time. Suddenly, he jumped up and sat on the parapet of the bridge. I quicked dashed over, seized him and his bike and pulled him down. I remember I was nervous. My hands trembled. I began to talk to him, asking him what was bothering him. But I couldn't make him speak. One of my legs was pressed against his stomach. He said, 'Move your leg so I can talk.'"
What happened was the man lost a lawsuit. He didn't actually want to die before he could redress the injustice done to him. He just had no way to release his pent-up emotions. The man asked Chen Si to write him an introductory letter so he could appeal to a higher court.
Chen Si knew it was of no use, but he did what the man told him to do anyway.
It was not just a letter. It showed he cared. Maybe that was what the man needed most at the moment.
When asked about his motivation to do such a formidable job, Chen Si has this to say.
"People have no sense of security living on the planet. People suddenly die without any signs or omens. Most of the people who have jumped off the bridge were not locals. I am not a local either. Sometimes I also feel sad. Who should I turn to when I feel hungry, unhappy, or wronged? If there is a family member, friend, neighbor, or even a stranger with whom we can talk, it would be tremendous help to those in despair. This was my original intention."
Nobody has forced him to do what he is doing right now but he has obviously taken life saving as his mission.
If you take a walk along the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, you will meet a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap and large black sunglasses with a yellow flag and a billboard by his side. It reads: "Maybe you feel tired, maybe you think this is the end of the world, but life comes only once, so please give yourself one more chance because tomorrow the sun will bring something new." http://english.cri.cn/4406/2007/01/18/47@186522.htm
This is OT, yet, deals with a subject which, in this crazy, and often irrational world of ours, could have also saved many from suicide. Our one world which sadly, ends in only devastation for some.
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