A suicidal 16-year-old girl took the 220-foot plunge off the Golden Gate Bridge and has lived to tell the tale. The girl was visiting San Francisco with her family and handed her sister a suicide note before leaping from the landmark, police said Monday.

The bridge is a very common suicide spot, unfortunately, but 98 percent of people who make the leap don't live. This girl was conscious and taken safely out of the water 20 minutes after her jump after a sailboat saw her and came to her rescue. She has a bruised back and a punctured lung, but is expected to survive.

This comes on the heels of last month's story where a 17-year-old boy made the same leap on a dare (HUH?) and survived the fall. Are these miraculous signs or just moronic teenagers who got very lucky?

Certainly, this is terribly sad since it sounds like this girl may have jumped on purpose (though that isn't confirmed, despite the suicide note). This incredibly young girl was so despondent that she thought jumping to what seems like a very painful death was the solution.

The other boy was clearly just seeking some kind of Jackass adrenaline rush. Either way, the question is why is more not being done to stop the suicides on this bridge? Why does this even seem like a viable solution?

The bridge was built in 1937 and is called the number one spot in the world. At least one person jumps to their death every two weeks. But why? Why this painful, dramatic way to go? More than 1,200 people had jumped and the grand majority have died.

This little girl is very, very lucky. The boy before her was just very, very stupid. And both stories make it clear that something is very, very wrong with teenagers today.

I hope she gets the help she needs and that this is her last attempt to jump off any bridge.

Does this story freak you out?

 

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