Young Dad Was Getting Ready to Leap from Golden Gate Bridge — Then the 'Miracle' of a Stranger's Voice Stopped Him

On nan worst greeting of his life, Kevin Berthia awoke and, aft years of fighting pinch depression, decided that he was going to thrust to nan Golden Gate Bridge and jump.

Berthia, who was 22 years aged astatine nan clip and surviving successful Oakland, Calif., had ne'er been to nan famed landmark earlier and had to many times inquire for directions on nan way.

But minutes aft parking successful a batch astatine nan northbound extremity of nan span connected March 11, 2005, he near his keys successful nan ignition and took disconnected stepping on nan 1.7-mile expanse, glancing down astatine nan San Francisco Bay, telling himself, “The h2o is my freedom. I’m ready.”

Before long, nan young man who had conscionable mislaid his occupation and was overwhelmed by aesculapian bills aft nan caller premature commencement of his girl scrambled complete nan railing and soon recovered himself balancing connected a mini metallic conduit that ran on nan extracurricular of nan bridge.

The frigid h2o of nan bay churned 220 feet beneath him.

“I started my countdown,” Berthia recalls now. “And I braced myself for impact.”

Then thing unexpected happened. Two decades later, Berthia still refers to it arsenic “a miracle.”

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Briggs — whose duties included keeping watch connected nan span — happened to beryllium passing by erstwhile he spotted Berthia connected nan different broadside of nan railing, mislaid successful thought arsenic he clutched nan metallic structure.

During his career, Briggs managed to forestall much than 200 group conscionable for illustration Berthia from leaping to their deaths from nan bridge. He was nicknamed “the guardian of nan Golden Gate Bridge.”

When he saw Berthia, he calmly swung into action.   

“Hi,” Briggs remembers telling Berthia, who was staring intently down into nan water. “Is it okay if I travel complete and speak pinch you for a while? I'm not going to touch you. I'm conscionable present to talk pinch you and to listen.”

Over nan people of nan adjacent 92 minutes, Briggs sewage Berthia to unfastened up astir why he wanted to extremity his life.

“I ne'er effort to show anyone what to do,” Briggs says. “I conscionable perceive pinch empathy and understanding, fto them speak their peace, past get them to deliberation astir coming backmost complete nan rail.”

It worked.

Berthia admits that for nan first clip successful his life, talking pinch Briggs, he shared his “deepest, darkest secrets” during their conversation. He pulled himself backmost complete nan railing and was soon taken to a section infirmary wherever he spent nan adjacent 11 days.

After returning home, Berthia's intelligence wellness problems quickly returned. Seeing a photograph of him connected nan broadside of nan span published connected nan beforehand page of nan San Francisco Chronicle only made matters worse.

“For nan adjacent 8 years,” he says, “I went backmost into 1 of nan deepest, darkest depressions I’ve ever experienced.”

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But things began to alteration successful 2013 erstwhile nan American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reached retired to Briggs, who was connected nan verge of retiring aft 23 years pinch nan authorities road patrol.

The statement wanted to grant nan seasoned patrolman for his work and was hoping to get 1 of nan individuals he’d stopped from jumping to coming his grant astatine a ceremonial successful New York City.

Briggs, who had declined nan grant connected 3 earlier occasions, was informed by his commandant that this clip he needed to judge their invitation.

The only problem was that he had ne'er been successful interaction pinch immoderate of nan individuals whose lives he’d helped save. The closest he ever sewage to a “thank you” was from Berthia’s mother, Narvella, who wrote him a letter.

“I ne'er followed up pinch anyone because I ne'er wanted to beryllium a trigger,” Briggs says, acknowledging that he understands why nary of nan span survivors had ever reached out, either: “They want to hide that day. They want to put it down them.”

One afternoon, Briggs drove to nan return reside that Berthia's mom had written connected nan envelope, introduced himself and told her astir nan upcoming ceremony.

Narvella quickly hatched a scheme to get her boy — who by past had attempted to return his life a twelve much times — to New York for nan event, telling him he’d won an expense-paid travel to nan metropolis from a power station.

Once Berthia arrived and yet met nan man who had saved his life, he was floored.

“I was like, ‘Dang, this full clip it was a bull who saved me,’ ” says Berthia, who was truthful consumed by nan acheronian thoughts unfolding wrong his caput connected that time successful 2005 that he ne'er erstwhile looked up to spot who it was he was talking to connected nan broadside of nan bridge. “Being a Black man from Oakland, I’d ne'er had immoderate awesome run-ins pinch rule enforcement. If I’d known who he was, I ne'er would person opened up to him for illustration I did.”

Within moments of gathering him, Berthia realized nary of that mattered.

“We’ve been friends ever since,” says nan 62-year-old Briggs, a subsister of crab and puerility intersexual abuse. Berthia insists that their narration is deeper than that.

“We’re much for illustration brothers,” he says. “What happened that time had thing to do pinch him being a White man and maine being Black. It’s each astir nan powerfulness of connection, quality connection.”

Their reunion proved life changing for Berthia, who gave an off-the-cuff reside while presenting Briggs pinch his grant that floored nan hundreds of group successful attendance.

“I talked astir everything that led maine to nan span that day,” he says. “For nan first clip successful my life I was myself, nan personification that I'd ever wanted to be. I was unfastened and honorable and vulnerable. And aft I sewage done, nan full room stood up.”

The crowd’s guidance forced Berthia to recognize for nan first clip successful his life that he wasn’t unsocial successful his struggles pinch termination and, suddenly, he wanted to do immoderate he could to effort and alteration things.

In nan years that followed, he not only recovered nan devices he needed amended grip his slump but he besides created an eponymous foundation that is focused connected removing nan stigma from intelligence unwellness and treatment. A

“Never successful a cardinal years did I deliberation that my surviving successful this acheronian spot could thief others,” says Berthia, now 42. He has fixed presentations to thousands of people, ranging from constabulary academy graduates to simple schoolhouse pupils.

Numerous times a twelvemonth he pairs up pinch Briggs — who has besides go a polished, powerful speaker connected nan rumor of termination prevention — to stock their gripping story.

Their dream is to empower others to do what Briggs did connected that fateful time 20 years ago, erstwhile nan 2 men first crossed paths connected nan Golden Gate Bridge. Suicide remains prevalent: More than 49,000 group killed themselves successful 2023, according to nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It really is each astir conscionable listening and not feeding these folks [in crisis] a bunch of crap, telling them they’re going to beryllium fine," Briggs says. "It’s astir learning really to talk to personification who is suffering.”

The goal, some men say, is to thief those successful nan midst of situation to understand that they're not alone.

“It’s a crappy subject,” says Briggs, “but we person a awesome time.”

Adds Berthia: “It’s not an easy taxable to talk about, but arsenic I ever show people, ‘Kevin makes you think, and I make you feel.’ ”

If you aliases personification you cognize is considering suicide, please interaction nan National Suicide Prevention Lifeline astatine 1-800-273-TALK (8255), matter "STRENGTH" to nan Crisis Text Line astatine 741-741 aliases spell to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.