The Final Leap Read Free

suicides. When published, they have elicited shock and disbelief. People, especially local people, are stunned to learn that the bridge is the top suicide site in the world. Since it opened in 1937, there have been more than fifteen hundred confirmed suicides, although the actual number is believed to be well over two thousand. That’s because the bodies of many jumpers aren’t ever found, they’re washed out to sea. Other times the body is found, but far enough away that the death cannot be attributed with certainty to the bridge. Police need evidence to verify a death, and if a body isn’t recovered or a jump isn’t witnessed, there can’t be confirmation, even if personal effects and a suicide note are found.
    The same people who are shocked when they hear the extent of the problem, a problem that is rarely publicized (no book has been written about it before), are surprised to learn that the Golden Gate Bridge is the only international landmark without a suicide barrier. The Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Duomo, and Sydney Harbor Bridge—to name just a few—have had suicide barriers added to prevent a procession of tragic and unnecessary deaths. The Golden Gate Bridge, so far, has not. It stands today as the location where more people go to kill themselves than anywhere else. The bridge’s easily surmountable, four-foot-high railing, year-round pedestrian access, fame, and beauty make it alluring to anyone who’s fighting inner demons and looking for a quick way out.
    In this book I offer a perspective that is gleaned from my many years of work in the field of suicide prevention. In addition to directing the crisis center, I was appointed by the governor of California to a blue-ribbon committee that developed the state’s suicide prevention strategy. I also helped draft the legislation that resulted in the creation of California’s Office of Suicide Prevention. In addition, I served four years on the steering committee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, based in New York City, which operates America’s three suicide hotlines (800-273-TALK, 800-SUICIDE, and 888-628-9454, the latter for Spanish-speaking callers). It is my belief— and I’m certainly not alone in this—that suicide, in most instances, is preventable. In fact, it’s the most preventable form of death. Moreover, one of the surest ways to prevent suicide, as many studies have proven, is to restrict access to lethal means. That’s where the Golden Gate Bridge comes in; it’s about the most lethal means there is. The odds of surviving a jump from the bridge are roughly the same as surviving a gunshot to your head. The major differences are that with jumping one doesn’t have to obtain or handle a weapon, and there’s no messy cleanup for loved ones to deal with afterward. A person just has to get to the bridge and jump.
    For many people, the Golden Gate Bridge represents hope and a fresh beginning—the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the chance to start a new life in one of the most glamorous, beautiful, and tolerant cities in the world. For others, the bridge represents an altogether different destination—the end of the trail. They throw themselves off it with such regularity and so little fanfare that the public forgets that the problem exists. Certainly no one is reminded how often it occurs. Most people see only the splendor of the bridge; not the deaths linked to it.
    That used to be the case with me. Although I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area my entire life, I never gave much thought to the issue of suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge or the need for a suicide barrier. No one I knew well had ever jumped from the bridge, seriously considered jumping, or lost a family member or friend that way. Never in my infrequent walks across the bridge had I seen someone jump or attempt to jump.
    After I