A man saved from committing suicide searches for the man who saved him - and finds him

[Sarah Ibarruri]

A LONDON man who launched an international search to find the man who stopped him from jumping off a bridge has found the stranger who saved him.

Jonny Benjamin was perched on Waterloo Bridge in January 2008 when good Samaritan Neil Laybourn approached him and calmly talked him down.

Mr Benjamin, then 20, had just been released from a month in hospital after being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and was set to end his life, which he felt had "hit rock bottom".

After Mr Laybourn assured him that things would get better, and offered to take him out for a coffee to talk, Mr Benjamin climbed down off the ledge.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/jonny-benjamin-finds-stranger-who-stopped-him-jumping-off-bridge-after-findmike-campaign/story-fnixwvgh-1226814460971

[Gothmog]

1. Great story

Thanks for posting.

[Cha]

2. That's is so heartwarming..

thank you, Sarah

[UtahLib]

3. The gift of compassion for those in pain should not be underestimated. nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

16. Yes... nt

[mythology]

4. The BBC had a story on this a while ago

But that was when the guy was just searching. I'm glad to know he found the guy who saved his life.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. Dang, I got something in my eye.

Such a small act of taking some time out of his life to talk to someone in dire need. And that small act was more important to one man than anything else. Makes you think.

[liberalmuse]

6. Who brought chopped onions in here?

What a beautiful story.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

14. Right? nt

[pragmatic_dem]

7. Waterloo Bridge is both famous and notorious ... some factoids

Factoid #1
Georgy Markov a Bulgarian dissident was assassinated on Waterloo Bridge using a poison tipped umbrella on September 7th 1978.

Factoid #2
For centuries people have been committing or attempting to commit suicide from London's bridges. The tide is so fast-flowing that few people jumping or even falling into the Thames have survived. Bridges were also a refuge for the extreme poor, as many of the homeless and destitute would spend the night huddled under the arches of bridges, as is shown in an engraving by Gustave Doré. During the nineteenth century, and particularly after 1840, The Times was full of reports of inquests of court cases relating to suicide attempts, as it was legally a crime and was often referred to a “self-murder”. Some of the stories are heart-rending, often about women whose husbands had died, leaving them destitute, women who had arrived in London looking for work and been seduced and abandoned, or men whose businesses had failed. Even sadder are those stories of women so desperate that they throw their children into the river before jumping in themselves. Although the courts sometimes treated attempted suicide with kindness and understanding, their fate was often the workhouse or a further, usually successful, attempt at suicide.

Blackfriars and Westminster Bridges, being free, were much frequented by suicides, but the Waterloo Bridge had an unenviable reputation of being the most popular one of all. In the 1840s about 15 percent of London's suicides were from Waterloo Bridge, probably because, as a toll bridge, it was less busy then the others, and they were less likely to be disturbed. Ironically, a director of the bridge company was later to say that “the tolls surely saved many a penniless wretch from finding himself into the dark cold waters”. In 1873 the Royal Humane Society set up a twenty-four-hour “receiving house” by the northern end of the bridge, manned by a doctor who would attempt to revive any victims brought to him, and in 1875 alone twenty-one people were saved by this method.

More at:
http://www.skydive.ru/en/londons-bridges/353-waterloo-suicides.html

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. That's interesting, pragmatic! I never knew that. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. k&r

[sheshe2]

10. Okay...

"His act of kindness changed my outlook on life and I have thought about him ever since. I want to find this man so I can thank him for what he did. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here today."

You made me cry. Thank you Sarah for sharing that sweet story.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. Welcome, hun, it made me cry a lot too nt

[sheshe2]

12. I can understand that Sarah.

I wish someone had been there for my brother. To talk him down when he felt all was lost.

I am so glad that Neil was there for Jonny.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

13. I'm so sorry. :(

It would be so good if someone could always appear at the time needed. Everyone needs an angel.

[sheshe2]

17. Thank you Sarah. nt

[flamingdem]

15. Thanks, this brings a tear

to my eye and makes me realize how we have to look out for each other

[freshwest]

18. Reminds me of a few passages I've kept over the years, here is one:

Who will tell whether one happy moment of love, or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies?

~ Erich Fromm

More to the point was this one that kept me going many days:

You must not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen. For restiveness, like light and cloud-shadows, passes over your hands and over all you do.

You must think that something is happening to you. That life has not forgotten you. That it holds you in its hand. It will not let you fall.

I wrote that passage down from someone reading it and carried it with me for over twenty years and put it away ten years ago. I transcribed it to my computer this year.

I hope it gives comfort, Sarah.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

20. It's very comforting. Thank you. nt

[Aerows]

19. Beautiful story

Kindness is an amazing thing when we show it to each other.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

21. Yes it is. I love your quote about love. nt