Raise the Rails - Save a Life
Our family's youngest son, Matthew, disappeared in November 2007. It is believed that he ended his life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. No body was ever recovered after a young man was seen jumping off the bridge on November 15th. Many people are not ever seen to jump (22%) and of those seen to jump, many bodies are never recovered (15%).
One out of 4 adults in our country is affected by someone they know with a mental illness, such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Suicide is one of the more critical phases of many of those diseases.
The impulse for suicide is short-term and if the railing were higher it would prevent most, though sadly not all, people from taking a permanent action for a temporary condition. The person is not thinking in a clear and rational manner. The drive to stop the emotional pain the person feels can last minutes to hours but then subsides. That is when many people reach out for the help they need.
Currently the bridge rail height is about 3.5 feet, an easy leap for anyone. Many groups over the years have tried to get the height of the railing raise. In 2005, the Golden Gate Bridge District approved studies for wind tunnel designs and an environmental report. Following the wind tunnels studies several designs were chosen since they do not compromise the structure of the bridge.
A draft of the Environmental report has been released and provides 5 options of barriers. View the DEIR/EA Citizens Guide which serves as a summary of the environmental document. Comment on the DEIR/EA.
Part of the report will list options for the rails, including (YES really!) not doing anything and letting more than 30 people continue to jump from the bridge each year!
This is truly a moral issue and will reflect how society as a whole feels about the individual with mental health problems! Please encourage as many people that you know to sign and to pass it on. This needs to go around the world and back!
If nothing else, "doing nothing" should NOT be an option!
Please sign this petition and then go to the Golden Gate Bridge District website, view the EIR, determine your choice of barrier then go to the "Comment" section to let them know barriers will work!
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Our family's youngest son, Matthew, disappeared in November 2007. It is believed that he ended his life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. No body was ever recovered after a young man was seen jumping off the bridge on November 15th. Many people are not ever seen to jump (22%) and of those seen to jump, many bodies are never recovered (15%).
One out of 4 adults in our country is affected by someone they know with a mental illness, such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Suicide is one of the more critical phases of many of those diseases.
The impulse for suicide is short-term and if the railing were higher it would prevent most, though sadly not all, people from taking a permanent action for a temporary condition. The person is not thinking in a clear and rational manner. The drive to stop the emotional pain the person feels can last minutes to hours but then subsides. That is when many people reach out for the help they need.
Currently the bridge rail height is about 3.5 feet, an easy leap for anyone. Many groups over the years have tried to get the height of the railing raise. In 2005, the Golden Gate Bridge District approved studies for wind tunnel designs and an environmental report. Following the wind tunnels studies several designs were chosen since they do not compromise the structure of the bridge.
A draft of the Environmental report has been released and provides 5 options of barriers. View the DEIR/EA Citizens Guide which serves as a summary of the environmental document. Comment on the DEIR/EA.
Part of the report will list options for the rails, including (YES really!) not doing anything and letting more than 30 people continue to jump from the bridge each year!
This is truly a moral issue and will reflect how society as a whole feels about the individual with mental health problems! Please encourage as many people that you know to sign and to pass it on. This needs to go around the world and back!
If nothing else, "doing nothing" should NOT be an option!
Please sign this petition and then go to the Golden Gate Bridge District website, view the EIR, determine your choice of barrier then go to the "Comment" section to let them know barriers will work!
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We the undersigned are requesting that the Board of Directors stop the impulsive acts of the mentally ill and raise the height of the railing on the Golden Gate Bridge.
As Board of Directors you have been aware of the high potential and actuality for suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge for 70 years. The emergency call boxes and patrols have helped save many people each year but they have done nothing to decrease the amount of suicides annually. In fact, the number is slowly rising.
Now is the best time and opportunity to help stop mentally ill people from making an impulsive, irrational choice to take their lives in such an easy manner.
Please do not condone and perpetuate the callousness that encompasses our society. Please do not make it easier to turn a blind eye to these "silent" suicides by doing nothing.
Please, Raise the Rails and Save Lives !
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Raising a rail is an OBVIOUS requirement to for public safety and social responsibility. There is NO valid argument that can be made against social responsibility and safety. Cost is insignificant (compared to other public safety and social responsibility expenditures). "View" would actually be unaffected, but regardless, it is NOT a valid argument. If aesthetic must be preserved, close off foot traffic so that it can be safe. If foot traffic must be preserved, then rails must be raised SO THAT IT CAN BE SAFE. SAFETY CANNOT BE COMPROMISED.
I agree totally agree with your cause.
We know that restricting lethal means to suicide helps. It is our responsibility to restrict means, even at a cost. We spend so much on other projects, this one is well worth the money. Please endorse.
Any of the suicide barrier designs would be great.
I lost a wonderful friend when he jumped from the golden gate bridge. Aesthetics is nothing compared to the value of human life. I truly believe the suicide was impulsive and could have been prevented with a larger barrier.
I lost my best friend's son on Dec. 28, 2007. I know that if it had not been so easy for him to carry out an impulsive decision he would still be with us today. Please build a barrier to prevent other families and friends from having to endure the pain of losing a loved one to suicide from jumping from the GG Bridge.
I lost my nephew Adam on Dec. 28, 2007 at the GG Bridge. He was in the early phases of learning how to manage his bipolar disorder, which was diagnosed less than 1 year prior to his death. Unfortunatly his treatment program had recently lapsed, and his disease got away from him before help could reach him. We strongly feel that his suicide was an impulsive act from the depths of his illness, and that the GG Bridge's 3.5 foot railing made it way too easy for him to act before his mood and impulse shifted. Losing him this way has been the most devastating loss imaginable for our family and his friends, and has impacted the lives of hundreds of others. We must build a barrier to suicide on the GG Bridge NOW to prevent this terrible tragedy from repeating itself again and again. Please, please make it happen this time, I and my family implore you.
It is imperative that measures be taken to prevent suicide at all costs.Even if it could save just one life, the financial investment would be worthwhile.
In memory of Adam.
The proposed barriers add a sginificant and needed deterrant to potential suicide attempts. We lost a young man and dear friend in the prime of his life, just 24 years old, when he jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge this past holiday season. Had any one of the proposed barriers been in place, I believe he would be here today, contributing greatly to society and blessing our lives with his presence.
A barrier at the bridge is long overdue. Ken and Christine's loss of Adam last December heightened our awareness. But this is not a new problem. It seems hard to believe that it has been over 50 years since my aunt took her life at the bridge and nothing has been done.
in memory of adam.
We lost our beautiful son Adam at the bridge last December 28, 2007. Adam had been diagnosed with Bi-polar illness a year prior. He was just 24 years of age. We believe it was an impulsive move made during a psychotic episode and that he chose the bridge because of the easy access that it affords.
A client where I work took his life by jumping from the bridge - he was 28 years old. I absolutely support building a barrier to deter people from using the bridge as a means to end their lives.
In memory of another Matt, who sadly took his life from the bridge. To put up a barrier seems like such a no brainer based on the sad statistics!! Put it up now, and help try to prevent more sadness and sorrow!
For heaven's sakes, we are such a super safety conscious society and yet we still make it so easy for people to jump off the bridge. Stop it now! Build a barrier.
I was not close to Matt but did meet him. He was an amazing person! Hilary (who will someday be what would have been his sister-in-law)is my best friend so i have seen what a tragedy this is. If the rails were higher or built differently none of this would probably have happened! May he rest in peace and may god be with the friends and family!
I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU MATTIE. EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE ABSENT IN BODY, YOU ARE STILL PRESENT IN SPIRIT.
About five years ago, a friend's life was ended in a jump into the waters flowing under the Golden Gate bridge. I still miss her. The bridge was never the same for me after that event -- its orange red glow is now a monument to sorrow.
Family friends lost their daughter on the bridge. We remember holding her as a baby and following her through life. Let's make the bridge safe!
Raising the rail height WILL be an effective suicide deterrent. It would be unconscionable for the Bridge District to do nothing knowing that doing nothing will lead to more lives to be lost when raising the rail will lead to lives saved. In any business or industry in this country, knowing of a risk posed by one's facility that is not corrected leads to fines and civil judgments (wrongful death). This should be no different.
My dear friends lost their daughter to a jump off the bridge, and I went their with them after to see what she saw before she jumped. If only it were a little harder to make the quick decision.
I'm a psychotherapist who has lost a client, a colleague, and the 17-year-old son of a colleague on the bridge. In the last 6 months, two of my clients have attempted suicide from the bridge. We can't call ourselves a civilized society without addressing this issue and make an attempt to save lives.
Please raise the rails to save a life!
Dear friends lost a daughter in a suicide from the bridge. That momentary decision to end it all leaves lifetime burdens and heartaches for parents, relatives and friends from which it is impossible to recover. The bridge loses it's beauty when it is the vehicle for anyone to take his or her life.
Please help to deter any future attempts of suicide off the Bay Bridge. I know that if a short period of time passes for the person contemplating suicide, they might likely change their mind about doing so if they do not find an easy way out, i.e. the Bridge. Thus the suicide could be prevented. Please help.
It's about time to face this issue and do something to help solve the problem of one of the most beautiful bridges in the world playing host to suicide.
I lost my nephew Alexander Lyndon from a jump from the bridge in 2005. WHere i live SF is considered so progressive but you aren't progressive enough. The East coast is starting to frown on you guys over there. Quit acting so "cutting edge". Other iconic suicide magnets are WAY ahead of you in their efforts to resolve the problem. You're looking pretty bad San FRancisco. It's pretty shameful. "Open up those Golden Gates, California here i come?" or is it "come jump off our Golden Gates, cus we don't give a damn"?. I guess it's the latter.
A child of a friend died jumping from the bridge. It devastated her family and friends.
A young niece of mine jumped from the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge to her death.
Last year on 7-26-07, I lost my oldest friend. He was 41 years old and I'd been friends with him since I was 11 or so years old. To this date, my heart is broken and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't find myself sobbing in tears thinking about him. I am outraged that this bridge was even constructed in the first place without safety precautions. Since the beginning of time, when man was introduced to the concept of currency, his priorities have caused him to be driven into the pit of spiritual darkness. To those of you who have the power to make the final say, if your not on the side of preserving life, you are on the side of terminating it! Be warned, there is a very high price to be paid. Peace and love in Christ Jesus Sincerely, John Adrian Dodge
My heart goes out to Matthew's family. Unfortunately, I can relate to the pain suffered due to the loss of a loved one to the Bridge. My boyfriend Larry of eight years ended his 40 year life much to soon on July 26, 2007. Many are worried that a barrier on the Bridge will diminish its' beauty, when if fact its' beauty diminishes more each year with each life lost that could have been saved. The rails must be raised!
I lost a friend to the bridge. I have worked on a suicide line and people have described their plans to jump from the Golden Gate or other public bridges. I have been depressed myself in my lifetime, and when I think of how to go, I think of the bridge. I don't want to think of it this way. I want it to be a landmark and a local source of pride. Please build a barrier so jumping isn't feasible. People commit suicide impulsively. They question their actions up to the moment they jump (or until they have completed another method). A barrier really will work. Let people walk on it and find solace in the beauty that surrounds them, not think about how easy it would be to slip away into the water. Thank you.
On December 28, 2006 my cousin Matthew jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. His body was found one week later. My prayer is that no other family would experience the pain of losing a loved one off this bridge.
I am sorry for your loss. Hopefully, raising the rails will prevent other tragedies.
We did this in Toronto amidst concerns about the "visual impact". Those concerns are lost in the reality of lives saves and architectual awards.
Please raise the rails, save lives!
I didn't know Mattie, I know his Mom Dayna and she is a wonderful Medical Professional and person and I know that she was a wonderful Mom. I'm very proud of her for starting and supporting this petition to Raise the Rails and Save Lives. I'm sorry that Mattie's life ended so soon but I know that he's no longer in pain and that he is at peace in heaven with God.
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6:01 pm PDT, Aug 14,
Bronwyn Hughes, Australia
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My life has been affected by individuals that chose to end their pain by taking their own lives. I have also witnessed the quality life that persons can have after a serious episode where their path to suicide was diverted and are now very thankful for that brief moment that made a difference and they decided not to take their life. Please raise the barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge as putting a 'wrench' into one's plan most often buys some precious time to help these persons when they feel they have no other choice.
