Teenager jumped off Golden Gate Bridge to impress friends? He survived

Danny Tse

If that's the reason, he's an idiot.

Happened yesterday....from The San Francisco Chronicle....

A 17-year-old boy on a field trip with his Sonoma County high school class leaped from the Golden Gate Bridge on Thursday, but survived and was able to swim to shore with a surfer who went out to rescue him, authorities said.

The boy is a junior at Windsor High School whom officials did not identify because of his age. Some students said he might have leaped to impress his classmates, but for now the California Highway Patrol is investigating the matter as an attempted suicide, said CHP Officer Chris Rardin.

The boy jumped at 11:15 a.m. from the east sidewalk near the south tower, the CHP said. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was expected to survive.

Some witnesses said he broke his tailbone and damaged his lungs in the fall, but a Windsor Unified School District press release said he suffered no severe injuries beyond bruising and tenderness. Hospital officials said they cannot release specific information.

Frederic Lecouturier, 55, said he was surfing under the bridge when he saw the boy drop into the waves.

"I thought, 'Well, he's going to die,' and then it was a miracle when he popped up alive," said Lecouturier, of San Rafael. "I paddled out there, and he told me he jumped 'for kicks.'

"That's when I lost it and told him what he did was wrong, that life is precious, and he should not take risks like that. I mean, he's a kid, he's got his whole life ahead of him."

Lecouturier said the boy was about 5 feet tall, "built like a wrestler" and had a brown ponytail. "There was a stiff wind coming out of the south, and I think that broke his fall and helped save him," he said.

Surviving the drop was remarkable considering the spot the student leaped from is more than 200 feet off the water - and 99 percent of the estimated 1,500-plus people who have jumped from the bridge since it opened in 1937 died from the fall.

Seven people have jumped to their deaths from the bridge this year, officials estimate. Last year, the count was 32.

Golden Gate Bridge District spokeswoman Mary Currie said the number of people attempting suicide off the span has grown from about 20 a year in the early 2000s to about 30 annually in the past few years.

The district has plans to install safety nets on the bridge, but the final design is not complete and the installation is a couple of years away at best, Currie said.

Rumors tore through the student body and the common thread was that it appeared the boy jumped of his own accord and that onlookers were upset by the experience. The boy recently transferred from another school, many said.

"He did it to try to look cool," said one classmate, who did not want to be identified. "He said he'd jumped off bridges before." Another student who said he was on the scene tweeted that students tried to stop the boy before he leaped.

Rardin said the boy jumped as he was walking on the bridge with about 45 other students on a school field trip.

"I've heard a bunch of things about how this happened, but we haven't come to a conclusion yet," he said. "I do know he's very lucky to be alive."

Joe08867

If your friends jump off a bridge, are you gonna follow them? I say, No!!

I understand trying to make friends but where does he go from here? Swallow an M80? Shoot himself in the head with a shotgun?

Retarded..

exalted512

I'd be impressed.
-Cody

megasat16

Yeah, seen the news yesterday. I fear he'll just do it again or something similar after he recovers.

danger boy

boy needs a time out...

cokewithvanilla

We're they impressed?!

ryanjoachim

exalted512 wrote: »

I'd be impressed.
-Cody

At that age, I would have been impressed too.
Then I would have laughed at him for being an idiot.

Peer pressure is a ****.

amulford

I'd have been the crazy sumbitch who jumped...

Sherardp

He's a lucky guy for sure. Hopefully school doesn't suspend him indefinitely though. I'm sure there will be more to this.

obieone

He's not afraid of heights, or the water? His next stop should be Coronado.

Ron-P

Next time hopefully he'll be dared to make a 200 foot jump over concrete.

Mike Reeter

No more field trips for this kid

treitz3

I've jumped from 90 to 100 feet before a couple of times and trust me when I say that you hit the water at a fast clip. I couldn't imagine how fast you would be going at 200 feet but I do know that it would hurt like hell. It would also take quite a while to get back up to the surface, depending on how you went in. One of the things I distinctly remember was that when your body finally stopped in the water and you looked up? The sun was just a very, very faint glow amidst blackness all around you.

ViperZ

He wasn't even close to terminal velocity, but still cool :cool:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity

Toolfan66

treitz3 wrote: »

I've jumped from 90 to 100 feet before a couple of times and trust me when I say that you hit the water at a fast clip. I couldn't imagine how fast you would be going at 200 feet but I do know that it would hurt like hell. It would also take quite a while to get back up to the surface, depending on how you went in. One of the things I distinctly remember was that when your body finally stopped in the water and you looked up? The sun was just a very, very faint glow amidst blackness all around you.

Where and why did you do that? Training of some sort?

treitz3

I did it along with a bunch of friends for fun. We'd go out to an abandoned quarry just south of DC. They had a 30, 60 and a 90-100 foot jump, depending on where you were. We did it just for fun. It was a popular place to go on the weekends for many.

It was a blast. On the big jump, you had to have a running start or you would hit some of the rock on the way down. Hang time averaged 3.2 and the sights on the way down were incredible.

slammin86

LOL doesnt sound like much fun to me.

treitz3

Eh, to each there own. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

shack

treitz3 wrote:

I did it along with a bunch of friends for fun. We'd go out to an abandoned quarry just south of DC. They had a 30, 60 and a 90-100 foot jump, depending on where you were. We did it just for fun. It was a popular place to go on the weekends for many.

We did the same thing when I was 15/16/17. On the big 100+ ft. jump we always wore tennis shoes because the impact hurt the bottom of your bare feet. This quarry was 200-300 feet deep. We quit going after jumping in and discovering a dead cow floating. A few years ago divers went down and found a bunch of stolen vehicles that had been dumped there (it was close to a road). The quarry is still there but they built a subdivision around it.

At 17 kids think they are indestructible...I know that was how I thought.

shack

Ron-P wrote:

Next time hopefully he'll be dared to make a 200 foot jump over concrete.

With balls and luck like he has I hope he figures everything out...grows up...and lives a long productive life.

treitz3

shack wrote: »

On the big 100+ ft. jump we always wore tennis shoes because the impact hurt the bottom of your bare feet.

Yeah, I discovered that the first time I jumped. The only thing I noticed with the shoes, is it took you a little longer to come back up to the surface.

Hehe, that reminds me. The first time I jumped I thought I'd be alright. I went feet first and brought my arms up close to my head. It wasn't until I hit the water that I discovered that your feet actually need to be pointed down and that your arms need to be as far against your head as possible. My feet stung like crazy for a while, my ankles were hurtin' and I about knocked myself out from the force of my arms hitting my head....and they were only about an inch or so away from my head. Ouch!

After that, it was fun as hell! I know you had fun.

The quarry I was at actually had the original construction equipment still down there and was also about 200 or so feet deep. Good times.

George Grand

I have heard it said that very few of the GG Bridge jumpers do not face the city when they go. Kind of like a last "Take that!" sort of affair.

The kid's nuts. Probably not ever going to be "well" as I know it.

JimKellyfan

OK 3 signs
:eek:
:rolleyes:
:biggrin:

sda2mike

i remember quarry jumping 40 maybe 50 feet...some of you guys are crazy mofoes!:eek::biggrin:

we used to swing out on a rope and drop...if you were a little off - ouch..lotsa enemas and very sore butts..from hitting the water

yup...alcohol, wacky weed and youth...great times..

i still am amazed at what i've read about some members doing what i did at twice the height..

the crazy-bridge kid? probably will start pulling lotsa high school tail - real soon

inspiredsports

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

We're they impressed?!

I am.

Same way here. When I was young, we used to jump 40 + feet into a quarry formed lake that is now part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and get as much air as possible skiing.

When older, I've done a lot of skydiving and bungee jumping because I love the feeling of intense fear just before you jump, and the rush of adrenaline during free-fall. I've always wondered what it would be like without the "safety net" of the bungee cord or parachute.

If that kid really did it "for kicks" (not suicide) as he is reported to have said to the surfer who assisted as he swam to shore, the jumper has giant balls of steel and is truly a stud!