Bob CollinsOnce you get past the headline — Strangers pull together to rescue I-94 jumper — which uses cop talk to dehumanize a person in crisis, the Star Tribune provides a touching snapshot of people who still care about people.
A woman had crawled through a fence on onto the Dale Street I-94 overpass and was threatening to jump to her death. Angela Martin grabbed her as the woman let go of the fence. Others who had stopped also grabbed her. Still others ran onto I-94 to try to stop traffic.
And someone made sure their camera was rolling to capture the scene of a person’s most horrible moment of life. For what, exactly? Our entertainment? Our information?
As paramedics cared for the woman, identified only as a “jumper”, the crowd clapped, shook hands and slapped high-fives.
“To see police and people in the community spontaneously working together, it was a beautiful thing to see,” [Lucky] Rosenbloom said. People of all races and backgrounds, commuters and the homeless, stood shoulder to shoulder, working with officers in blue.
“It was something good to see when all you see is this negative stuff going on,” he said.
As the crowd began to disperse, Rosenbloom watched the officers chatting with those who remained. “They talked with people to make sure everyone was OK before they jumped in their squads and took off,” he said.
Said Krumgant: “It’s an awful thing to see and be a part of.” But moments like these bring people together, he said.
“I wasn’t born in this country,” said Krumgant, who immigrated from Latvia. “It reminded me why I joined the Marine Corps and why I always wanted to be a police officer — to bring people together.
And that was it; a good story. People working together. Cops talking with residents. Good stuff. A sincere “well done” to you all.
We won’t ever know what prompted a woman to let go of the fence. We won’t ever know what led her to crawl through the hole and to decide that the world she lives in offers no hope.
We won’t determine whether the society that saved her also failed her. We won’t know whether the help she’s getting this morning will include access to the services she may need to keep her from going back to the bridge.
We think the story is over. We think the story is about us.
Archive: ‘She never knew how beautiful she was’ (NewsCut)
