Saw a jumper on a roof today

Towards the end of the work day, our team looks out the window and sees the street in front of our building closed off. We’re pretty close to some homeless shelters, so it’s not uncommon with a police presence due to the many individuals with mental health issues moving around the area.

Then we notice that on top of a building across from us, there’s a bunch of police officers standing in a line. We trying to get a grasp of what’s going on and then all of a sudden we see it: There’s a woman standing on the ledge, ready to jump. It’s not a tall structure but a jump from four stories up onto pavement is no joke.

I immediately step away because I know if I end up seeing her jumping, I will not be sleeping for a long, long time.

I’m a dad with two teenage kids. The woman was far enough away that I couldn’t see her to clearly but she appeared to be young. Through my work, I’ve dealt with some fairly interesting cases. Incest, rape, death and things like that. But for most of those cases, it’s just been dealing with people over the phone.

Today hit me hard. It was heartbreaking to see this young woman on the ledge, struggling against the wind, probably terrified and tired of everything at the same time. When I left the office, she was still up there. I’ve checked the news but didn’t see anything about the incident, so I don’t know if the police managed to talk her down or if she ended it.

We have an in-house counsellor, I think I’ll swing by her office tomorrow.