Paige Hunter wants those in anguish to realize life is worth sticking around for.
Paige Hunter knows the black hole of despair. And she knows you can climb out of it.
The British teenager took the time to write more than 40 notes of encouragement to people she's never met before tying them to the Wearmouth Bridge in Sunderland. She wrote what she wanted to hear in her darkest moments, she says.
"You're a shining star," reads one. "Just hold on." In another, she printed by hand, "The world is much better with you in it."
Hunter says she suffers from PTSD and "when things got hard and I felt alone, I went to the Wearmouth Bridge on a couple of occasions and that feeling you get when you are debating whether to stay is absolutely terrifying," she told InsideEdition.com. "I didn't want people to feel the same way I did."
The Northumbria Police Department has credited the college student with saving the lives of six people. Chief Superintendent Sarah Pitt presented Hunter with a framed commendation to thank her for her heartfelt kindness.
"We thought it was important to applaud the work Paige has been doing and the help she has given those in Sunderland who are going through a mental health crisis," Pitt said. "For somebody so young, Paige has shown a real maturity and we thought it would only be right to thank her personally. She should be very proud of herself."
Hunter said her only desire was to help, and that her family has been her rock.
"I wasn't doing this for an award," she said. "I just wanted to help. My family [is] just so proud of me and I'm going to put it up on the wall," she said of the certificate.
She added that people have thanked her for tying her notes to the bridge railings.
"It's just amazing, the response it has had," she said.
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