Trooper Pulls Suicidal Woman Off Bridge (check yahoo video!)

[sticazzi]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../bridge_rescue

GREEN BAY, Wis. - A state trooper saved a woman's life by holding onto her arm as she tried to plunge off the side of a bridge in a scene captured on a squad car video camera.

Woman Pulled to Safety from Bridge
(AP Video)

After a brief chase, the suicidal woman pulled onto the Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge, got out of her car and walked straight to the edge. Trooper Les Boldt rushed over, grabbed her right arm and hung on with both hands.

"When I first got a hold of her, she went over and my feet slipped a little bit and I squatted down and stuck my knees into the barrier," said Boldt, 34. "I had to hunker down so I didn't get pulled over myself."

For a few moments, both their lives hung in the balance about 200 feet over the Fox River.

After hanging onto the 36-year-old woman for 16 seconds, Boldt was joined by Brown County Sheriff's Sgt. Bill Morgan, who grabbed the woman's other arm. A third deputy helped them hoist her over the wall.

The trooper had been following the woman on Interstate 43 at speeds up to 105 mph after authorities received a call to check on her welfare.

She apparently was suffering from postpartum depression and her family was worried she might be suicidal.

On the bridge, the woman's fall was interrupted by a blue steel bridge support just below the concrete barrier, and Boldt said he might not have been able to hang on long enough if the beam hadn't been there.

But the woman continued fighting Boldt after he had her arm, clawing at his grip on her wrist.

The woman was taken to Aurora BayCare Medical Center with minor injuries.

Boldt suffered scratches and shrugged off suggestions that he did anything out of the ordinary, although he said it was the most eventful day he's ever had.

- Associated Press

[ShatteredSoul]