Sixteen-year-old Jamie Harrington says he encouraged the man to step off a bridge in Dublin when he saw him about to jump last summer.
A 16-year-old from Ireland says he prevented a stranger from jumping to his death – and now the man is showing his thanks by naming his child after him.
Teenager Jamie Harrington first told his incredible story to Humans of Dublin, which shared his image on their Facebook page.
He recounted how he saw the man sitting on the Ha’penny Bridge in Dublin last summer as he headed to a nearby candy store.
“I just noticed him sitting somewhere he shouldn’t have been,” Jamie told INSIDE EDITION. “He didn’t look right. I was thinking, ‘What is he doing? He shouldn’t be there.’”
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So the teenager approached the man and asked him: “Are you okay?”
“When I walked up to him, I knew by the look on his face that something was wrong,” he said. “He had tears in his eyes.”
He slowly coaxed the man away from the ledge of the bridge, saying anything he could think of to get him down. Eventually the man agreed.
“We sat on the sidewalk… and talked for about 45 minutes, about what was happening to him, why was he feeling that way,” Jamie told Humans of Dublin. “I couldn't leave him there alone, but I had to go, so I was going to ring an ambulance. I told him they could help him feel better.”
Even though the man resisted, he eventually allowed the teenager to call an ambulance and Jamie waited with him until it arrived. He passed on his number to the man and then carried on with his day.
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“Whenever I walked over the bridge I would think about him,” he told INSIDE EDITION.
Three months ago, he got a text from the man telling him that his girlfriend was pregnant – and that they were going to name the child after him.
“I was like ‘oh my God, how is this happening?’” Jamie said.
The baby is due in October and Jamie says he will “definitely” meet him after he is born.
He met with the man, who does not want to be identified, and Jamie said he appears much happier.
“Every time we talk he tells me that he’s thankful,” he said.
Speaking to Humans of Dublin, he added: “He said in that moment that I approached him, he was just about to jump, and those few words saved his life. That they're still ringing in his head every day. ‘Are you okay?’
“I can't really understand how these few words could save his life, but he told me, "Imagine if nobody ever asked you those words..."
Jamie, who is from Ballymun, is a young comedian who posts videos online.
He is also Youth Ambassador for Dublin2020, Dublin's campaign to be European Capital of Culture in 2020. He met Humans of Dublin through his work with the campaign.
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