Fifty-six-year-old Chen Si keeps a watch on the Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing.
Dubbed the "Angel of Nanjing," a suicide prevention volunteer has prevented 469 individuals from jumping off a bridge in China during the course of 21 years, as per a report in the South China Morning Post.
Fifty-six-year-old Chen Si keeps a watch on the Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province in eastern China. To stop individuals from jumping, Chen strikes up conversations with others who are lingering or mindlessly strolling across the bridge. Additionally, he has helped save lives by pulling people back from the brink and helping those who have already dove into the river.
Donning a red volunteer's uniform with the Chinese phrase "cherish life every day" printed on it, he has been monitoring the bridge ten times a day for almost 20 years.
Chen wears a red volunteer's uniform with the words "cherish life every day" written in Chinese and patrols the bridge 10 times each day. He has been doing so for over two decades.
In the year 2000, Chen witnessed a girl who appeared to be in need walking on the bridge. He came over to her, worried that she might be in trouble, and struck up a conversation in an attempt to cheer her up. She had no money, but he got her food, water, and a ticket home. For Chen, it was the first time he had thought of someone jumping from a bridge to end their life. "I realised that these people could be saved," he said.
Since September last year, he has saved several hundred people. The 56-year-old said he learnt to understand when someone is feeling down by their posture. "People with an extreme internal struggle don't have relaxed body movements, their bodies look heavy. I want to tell these people that as long as you have breath, you have hope to start your life over," he told New Weekly.
He has used his savings to rent places for people he helped and also helped them with other expenses. Once, he helped save a girl who had been selected for a university but could not afford the tuition fee. Chen also helped her raise over $1,400. Another time, he saved a woman from jumping because her husband cheated on her. "Over the years, I've realised that simply pulling someone back from the brink on the bridge doesn't completely lift them out of their predicament," he said.