The Board of the Golden Gate Bridge is finally considering a suicide barrier. They are seeking the public???s opinion as to ??? build or not to build???. I am asking if you would do me a favor and please click the following link and ask them to please build a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge.
I am asking you to please help save people and their families.
bridgecomments@goldengateorg.

Consider the following:
1) The Golden Gate Bridge has become the World???s center for suicide. Many find it irresistible to jump the rail of the bridge, which is less than four feet high. Those few that survived when asked said they thought their death would be serene and painless.
2) An independent study conducted by the University of California unequivocally proved that suicide from the Golden Gate is an impetuous act – 98% never attempt suicide again.
3) A barrier can easily be put in place ??? a barrier to prevent pedestrians and bikers from falling on to the Bridge???s roadway was put in place without fanfare ??? quickly and easily and did not detract from the beauty of the bridge ??? neither would a similar suicide barrier
4) To pay for the barrier I advocate a reinstatement of the toll on the bridge ??? Kevin, like so many who go to the bridge to die, had no money ???a toll would have prevented him from going out on to the bridge.
5) In the long run it would be actually more economical to build a barrier than use the labor-intensive measures currently in use to prevent suicides at the bridge, which obviously aren???t working anyway.

??? As to what happened to Kevin – suffering from terrible despair driven by his disease, manic depression, he was hearing voices and he wanted peace ??? peace that he believed could be obtained over the rail of the Golden Gate Bridge. Contrary to his belief, and apparently the belief of many others, death at the Golden Gate is anything but peaceful. Factually, it is about the most painful and horrendous way to end life. The moment Kevin was over the rail he began desperately fighting for his life. Free falling he tried to maneuver frantically trying to hit the water feet first. But, the winds under the bridge are fierce and were unforgiving, ripping and tossing him like a rag doll as he fell. He slammed into the water at incredible speed shattering his back and leg while also going approximately forty feet deep into the black water. Awake not knowing which way was up; he struggled in the frigid water against severe currents desperate for air, tearing at the darkness fighting for the surface.
His back broken and leg shattered somehow he made it to the surface and began struggling to stay afloat. The weight of his wet cold clothes kept dragging him under. Again and again and dark green water flooded his lungs. Miraculously, a heroic Coast Guard crew found him, as he was being swept out to sea, and pulled him from the water ??? limp and semi conscious. The highway patrolman, who led the speeding ambulance to the hospital, asked me if he could just touch my son – he thought it was a sign from God that Kevin survived. It was …Kevin slipped into unconsciousness. I didn???t know if he was going to live or die ??? I believed he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

I was at his bedside for three weeks before he woke up and while at Marin General Hospital I learned from Kevin???s Doctors and the Medical staff as to the fate of most “jumpers”. Death by the bridge is very cruel- filled with unimaginable horror. Few die from the impact. They told me most bleed to death or, bodies broken and paralyzed, unable to save themselves, they drown helplessly. Finally, their bodies are usually swept out and lost at sea another horrible cruelty families endure – never getting closure.

Today, Kevin goes to college and through the miracle of modern medicine is fully ambulatory and depression free due to medications (he religiously takes). He spends every bit of his spare time speaking to various groups and schools – young and old about his experience, depression and suicide. He believes he is alive to reach out and try to save just one person from the terror of suicide. His message is clear – Suicide is a permanent solution to temporary problem.

So I make the argument about the need for a barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. Such a need is axiomatic and ironically already exists to protect Fort Point under the Bridge. I hope you agree. I would ask you consider the argument for a reinstatement of the toll for walkers and bike riders. A toll, by my son’s testimony, would have stopped him. He had no money – and in such a state of emotional disarray he could not have been able to pay. Many who come to the bridge are in the same state.

I appreciate your time. Now is a real opportunity to save lives and frankly save families from the emotional devastation that has been visited upon me and my family and frankly friends. Please do Kevin and me a great favor and let bridgecomments@goldengateorg. Know how you feel and if you want, e-mail me and I can give you more information should need it???
Thank you very much

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