Warning: This story contains information about suicide that may be distressing. If you need support, call the Crisis Centres Canada 24-7 hotline at 1-833-456-4566.
RCMP officers intervened to stop a potential suicide attempt May 9.
Police received a report of a ‘person in distress’ around 1:20 pm and arrived to find a person hanging over the railing of the Fraser River Bridge.
The bridge was closed and officers started talking to the person. A support worker from the Hope and Area Transition Society arrived to help, and members from local search and rescue, Emergency Health Services and Rescue Canada were also at the scene.
After about a half hour, the person climbed back onto the vehicle side of the bridge and was taken to hospital.
“This situation highlights the seriousness of mental health issues in the community and the inter-agency cooperation that is required to address the high-level concerns,” said Hope RCMP Staff Sgt. Dwayne Farlin, adding that all frontline police officers are trained to deal with this type of emergency situation and utilized their training to de-escalate the person in distress.
“Resources from other RCMP units were requested and were available to respond, if the incident escalated,” he noted.
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