country that is a magnet for suicides. the golden gate bridge in san francisco. more people commit suicide off the golden gate bridge than anywhere else in the world. and that is our topic today. i'm wendy rieger. welcome to viewpoint. joining me are kevin heinz, who actually jumped at the age of 19 from the golden gate bridge and is one of only 34 people to survive that out of 2,000 plus who have taken the jump. and also joining us is kevin briggs whose a retired

california highway patrol sergeant who worked at the golden gate bridge trying to keep people alive on that bridge since 1990. gentlemen, welcome. what a story you both have. kevin, i want to start with you. you at the age of 19 in the year 2000, bipolar disorder. at that point you decided -- you lived in san francisco. you went to this bridge this, iconic place to kill yourself. tell us about that. >> i have beenaj÷ fighting bipo disorder type one can psychotic features for two and a half years since i was 17. he auditory hallucinations in my head. and if you don't understand that, it is a voice unlike your conscience. it is not of your conscience. of being screaming at you. and my hallucinations were saying kevin you must die. jump now. 8÷ .

and it brought me to leap over the rail. >> and how -- what happened at that moment? as you -- you had a clearly, literally a life-changing moment as soon as you hit the clear air. >> yes. instant regret. who have active suicidal thoughts that when they attempt and they see their imminent death before them they are shocked into reality. because one of the commonalities is people who suffer mentally and attempt suicide are having irrational thought. in my case my voices were telling me i parents hated me and that all of my friends and family wanted me dead. i never wanted to die by suicide. i only believed i had to. and that is the categorical difference within someone whose struggling mentally. they don't nelsonly want to die but they believe they have no other option. >> and how did you not die? i mean, let me just -- it is 270

feet at its peak, and they estimate you would be going 75 miles an hour when you hit the car. >> when you hit the water it is like hitting a brick wall. >> yeah. >> that water is so sharp when you hit from that height. you can stop for less than a second. you are vacuumed under the water 70 to 80 feet. but then i opened my eyes. i was informed you die on impact. which is not true. there are tons of ways to die and they are very violent and slow. and i opened my eyes. and i knew all i wanted to was survive. i just didn't know if i would. >> as you were falling did you have any presence of mind of maintaining your body upright? landing by your feet? anything like that that would have mitigating factor on hitting the water. >> i was falling head first initially. and as an instant regret came i said what have i just done and

then i hit the water, god please save me. i tried to turn my head back. survived. and there was really three piece of a miracle that came together to save my life that day. a woman driving by who saw me go over had her car phone and a friend in the coast guard. the only reason they arrived to me in the less than the time i would get hypothermia and drown was because of that woman. and the next piece was i was bobbing up and down try stog stay afloat, and swallowing salt water. i legs immobile. i shattered three vertebra. and something brushed by my legs. and i initially i thought you got to be kidding me. now a shark is going to devour me. i was doing a campaign and i had heard that. and the wrote in and kevin i waw standing less than two feept away when you jumped. it's haunted me till this day. so glad you are alive. it was a sea lion and it

appeared to be keeping you afloat. that is the second piece of the miracle. when we got to the hospital, the doctor that opted to do my surgery, a surgery in medical journal a the brand new surgery, one of the foremost back v the facetcjó of the planet. all of those saved me. >> wow. we have to take a break. but when we come back, kevin briggs, i want to talk to you. because you met him in the hospital. and i also want to hear about how you keep people like kevin and other people who are suffering from going over the rail. we'll be right back.

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the golden gate bridge opened in 1937 and two months later it h its first suicide. when they reached 1,000 suicides, they stopped reporting just encourage people. they now believe the number is

more than 2,000 at this date. joining me is one of the rare people, one of 34 people in the history of that bridge, kevin heinz, who survived jumping off that bridge. and kevin briggs, a former california highway patrolman who's been working that bridge and trying to prevent suicides since 1990. kevin survives. he goes to the hospital, you go in the hospital to talk to him thinking he's probably going to be dead by the time he arrives at the hospital. because no one survives that jump rjt right. when i got the cal i was on another case at that time. so when i got done that i took my time going to the hospital. based on that. i figure they're not going make it. very few people make it when they go off that bridge. and even if he did make it he's going to be surrounded by doctors and nurses and i won't be able to speak with him for days if not weeks. >> what did you find when you

got there snncht i walked in. >> he was lying in his bed with his father next to him. i walked up and introduced myself. told him why i was there. and i'm handling the case. and his father shook my hand. and he could speak then. kevin said, very slowly. but we had a chat for a while. and it was quite interesting. i -- i was astounded. i couldn't believe he was alive. >> what did you learn from him? because i know you are trying to get to people before they jump up on that rail and leap. what did you learn from this experience? >> this was profound for me, not having experienced this before. i was stunned. i'm used to having my questions ready to go. i wasn't expecting what i saw when i saw it. so i had to step back a little

bit and said, all right. i just went with the possible mental illness part, trying to see what is going on with him? what happened that q++nday? what is the crisis that particular time that made him do that act? >> what he told you, did it surprise you at all? from your training and what you had -- i mean you had pulled so many people from the edge. did he enlighten you any way that would help you reach more people or talk them down at that critical moment when you are trying to pull them in? although the majority of folks that i do encounter up there have gone off their medication that i've spoken. >> right. >> and they have been off at least two weeks. usually more. but at least two weeks. and even if i see someone in the parking lot by themselves and i just want to go up and chat and see how they are doing, i'll

work that into it and see if they have a plan for tomorrow or, you know, ask them about medication. if it looks like it is going that way. >> let me ask you. because in this movie, you are featured in a documentary called "the bridge" which is about the people -- a documentary of people who jump off the bridge. film maker eric steele spent a year filming it. what surprised me when i watched it was how many people who just even stare at the rail staring out. and if they stand long enough, a police officer pulls up to talk to them. is that something you guys are trained? how do you know to look for people who are suspicious? considering all the tourists there gazing out at the pacific. >> right.

go right over. but they will walk slow up there. and they will be looking around to see who's watching them. and sometimes they will have a backpack and they will lay that down. and if we can get to them before they get over that rail it is a whole lot better. >> how are you watching them? do you have binoculars? >> there are cameras. we're watch watching. we patrol it. when i was an officer there, i would be on a motorcycle and i would actively patrol that sidewalk onxn#i my motorcycle. besides being good pr it is a very good proactive way to contact people. and you may contact 50 people who are by themselves up there. and that is fine. i would rather it be 50 and no one go. but unfortunately we find that

person quite frequently that is desperate. >> right. >> you know, they have a lot of pain. >> and i want to talk about what you say to them? how do you reach someone in that that pain? a and who has a disease that is really playing with their mind? as yours was. we'll get to that after this.

golden gate bridge, a suicide magnet. the biggest one, the more suicide there than any other place in the world. and people who are stopped on the golden gate bridge from killing themselves, 94% of them go on to live their lives. and joining me are kevin heinz. one of those people, even the you jumped and you are now a big advocate to help other people who are suffering from mental illness and want to kill

themselves, to bring them back from the edge. and kevin briggs, a california highway patrolman who's worked that bridge. kevin, when you find people who are -- there is like a landing area right over the railing. they are standing there and don't just immediately jump. what do you say to them? you can both talk about this. what do you say to them? and what do you think they need to hear? >> we call that the cord. >> okay. >> when i get the call and i'm riding up and i see that, i stop far away. we comb that area off so to speak. with e have officers on each side. i want to make it as intimate as possible. i want to get that person's focus on me. not on the uniform. i don't want them to see the badge and everything. on me. and my job is to buy time. to create5;?' ambivalence. to let reason outweight whatever is in their proses right now.

they have a lot of emotions going on so we use what we call active listing skills. and i want them to be foc focusn me as much as i'm going to be focused on them. and it is not about us. everything is about them. i want to hear their story if they will talk to me. and it is genuine. it has to be for us to be effective. >> kevin doct-- you are both ke. so it's difficult. if someone had gotten to you, what -- could that have saved you? what needed to be said to you in that desperate moment? >> this is so important. because suicidal people who take these actions, they are very often led by impulls and they constant constantly make -- they say things like "the one person comes up to me and smiles, i will not jump.

that was in a man's note. nobody smiled at him. they just kept walking by him. in my head i said if one person comes up to me and says are you okay or can i help you in i would have told them everything and begged their help and not done this. so it left my fate up to someone to basically read my mind which is clearly impossible. so if someone had come up to me and said those things, simple. simply looking into what's going on? why i'm crying my eyes out on a bridge leaning over a rail. so it was my @/' pact. many make internal pacts for themselves for someone else to reach out. when i would have reached back was that morning when it was just my father. and my father said kevin what about youp, you are acting erratically. why don't you come$>rhñ to work me told. so said no dad i'm fine. i'm convincing my father i'm fine while i'm going to go to

the golden gate bridge and jump off. if he had been trained he would have asked me. kevin are you having thoughts of hampling yourself. when you ask someone that. if they are not thinking about it they are not going to start thinking about it because you asked them. but if you are thinking about it and they ask you that question that is an open door. come talk to me. >> so we need to ask that of friends and loved ones who are in trouble. >> it is the truth. you have to ask it, yes. >> is it okay then, kevin briggs, for bystanders if they see someone starting to climb over the rail to grab them or if they see someone in distress clearly waiting to gather the courage to jump, to start talking to them? we're not interfering, we're not hurting them in anyway? >> my opinion on this would be absolutely. but i would say talking with them, yes. i mean that is a huge indicator. you are solo up on that bridge,

near mid span where most go. they are crying. that is the science. but if they start going over that rail, no. let them go. because you may go with them. >> now in this movie "the bridge" when people are on that cord, as you called it, and they were waiting to getg+yp the cou to jump. i saw people reach over and holding on to them as if to say we're not letting you go. so you can't -- now you can't leap. that is also dangerous? >> absolutely. because you don't know. what if you slip. >> yeah. >> i've had that happen to me where i didn't lose him but i grabbed a guy's arm many years ago and we had been out there over seven hours. and we grabbed his arm and it is so cold and nasty out there that my hands immediately just slipped off his arm.

so we don't. there is too many things -- you know, they could jerk back and lose their grip. then maybe we were making headway and now it's lost. >> delicate. and we'll have closing thoughts when we come right back.

we're talking about preventing suicide, and we've been focussing on the suicides on the golden gate bridge but it is not about the bridge. it is about getting people to not want to go to that bridge to jump. what are the big three things that you need to know when you are dealing with a loved one whose depressed and you fear for their safety? >> well?ic÷ what i tell people don't argue, blame or tell them that you know how they feel. because you probably don't.

it is a crisis moment then. they are coming to you. they are bearing their soul to you. sit back and take itf0x& in. be supportive. a support group is huge for these folks. >> and you said active listening. and of course kevin briggs, you have talked to people who are about to jump on the bridge and you have talked them back from the edge. kevin heinz who actually jumped off the bridge and just wished someone had looked at you and smiled that day. what a failure that was for the rest of humanity. >> well, you know, it is what it is. but i just wanted someone to acknowledge my pain. just somebody to see that i was crying my eyes out leaning over a rail in pain. so my message to people out there is if you are -- if you see someone actually in emotional mental pain, you can judge they are crying or wailing. even if you don't know them from adam, walk up to them.

are you okay? is something wrong? can i help you? or a variation. and let them know you care. and use active listening skills to listen ooto what they have to say. and guide them to what they desperately need. >> you and your father and you and kevin briggs have been working to get barriers. and that is now been passed and approved. >> approved as of june 27th this year. >> for the golden gate bridge. >> they are putting up the nets to stop the suicides indefinite. and this group has gone around and doing the lion's share of the work to make this happen. and they did it. >> how will it work? >> it will be a net 20 feet lo t railing or the cord. and it's my understanding that if someone goes into it, it will be near impossible to get out of it. the net should collapse atop of them. and the tram will get them to

the help they need. >> wow. that is amazing. and you have written a book. >> yeah. >> "cracked, not broken kwlt. >> yeah. >> and what is your message? >> the sub title is surviving and thriving after a suicide attempt. it's about living with the struggles on a daily basis. i have a chronic suicidal thoughts and a mental illness that is not going anywhere. i have to fight live well every day. i it's very difficult. and it's about going through the trenches and coming out on the other side and working towards changing your life. if we can be self aware with having mental illness, we can do anything. >> thank you both so much. good luck and god speed and thank youoko?ñ for joining us. this has been wonderful. thank you even kevin. and go to nbcwashington.com and search "changing minds." you can find a link to this book. i'll put a link up to the documentary "the bridge"nd

also links to the suicide prevention hotline and sources and resources here in our community. thank you so much. have a wonderful weekend.

"news 4 today" starts now. more information coming in on the victims of that malaysia airlines plane shot down. what we're learning about another victim's ties to the u.s. and moment of impact. this morning a different view of the bombs hitting homes right now in the middle east. some really incredible images from that region today. good morning, thanks for joining us. i'm erika gonzalez. >> i'm adam tuss. we start with the weather outside. >> a nice morning to get started. don't expect too much