Cpl. Kenny Fitzsimmons pulled a young man off of the ledge of an overpass bridge in Richland County SC. He sat with the young man holding his and talked to him until his father could pick him up and take him to a hospital.
The father was grateful to Fitzsimmons, thanking and hugging him before taking his son to a hospital for help. Fitzsimmons explained the young man was dealing with some demons, he is only 26 years old.
A little while after the incident, he did an interview with the hosts of On Patrol: Live just before they went on air Saturday night.
Dan Abrams asked Fitzsimmons to talk about the moment he made the decision to take the man off the ledge and what he did.
“When I first got on scene and I saw the gentlemen sitting there, I didn’t want to startle him so I approached from kind of an angle and got his attention,” Fitzsimmons explained. “He turned his head and looked at me and I just saw the pain in his face and tears in his eyes, asked him if he wanted to talk and he just shook his head no and looked back down at traffic. I knew what his intentions were, he didn’t want to talk about anything.”
He went on, “so I positioned myself behind him, and the way the sun was I tried to hid my shadow so he couldn’t see coming and I saw him starting to lean forward a little bit and I think you guys saw me start shaking my hands a little bit I was just trying to get ready and hold on for dear life and pull him back and not accidentally push him forward.”
Fitzsimmons then explained he still doesn’t know what was going through the mans head, he also says he has been through a lot himself, he belives he could relate if he knew what it was issue was.
While talking with the young man he talked about his military service where he saw a lot and did a lot. He told the young man, that we all have deamons it how we deal with them that make us who we are, talking about it helps alleviate the pain, “it brings you back down”.
Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. tweeted about the incident:
“Great job by Cpl. Fitzsimmons to keep that young man safe. Problems are temporary. Suicide is never the answer. You don’t have to take on your demons alone. If you’re in crisis, please speak with someone today. Help is available by calling 988.”
Twitter user That Car Girl shared a TikTok someone made of the rescue along with:
“Just the most beautiful display of humanity. Richland County, SC: Cpl Kenny Fitzsimmons pulls a young man off bridge; saving his life and showing a level of care and compassion not often seen in this day and age. A desperately needed balm for the soul. @RCSD“
Cpl Carli Drayton of the Berkly County Sherrif’s Office shared:
“Fitzsimmons is truly a hero. @RCSD has an amazing deputy.”
Many other twitter users were affected by the incident and shared their reactions on Twitter.
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