Three boys aged 12, 13 and 14 have been hailed as heroes after helping prevent a man from taking his own life on a bridge in Hertfordshire pic.twitter.com/2tCKnhdXvH
— ITV News (@itvnews) October 4, 2017
Three U.K. schoolboys are being hailed as heroes after preventing a suicidal man from jumping off a bridge late last month.
Students Devonte Cafferkey, Sammy Farah and Shawn Young leaped into action as soon as they realized what was happening. Appearing on U.K. show “This Morning,” the boys said it was a passerby who alerted them to a young man perched 25 feet above a busy highway in Hertfordshire who was about to take his life.
“We ran and got help,” Cafferkey said Tuesday. “We saw a rope around his neck, and we were persuading him not to jump.”
The boys said it was just the three of them and the man on the bridge that fateful morning two weeks ago. Cafferkey said the man was sitting there crying and wiping his eyes.
“We told him you got family, it’s not worth it,” he said. “We were trying to keep him calm so he doesn’t quickly jump off.”
For Young, the idea of seeing the man hang himself was frightening. He said he didn’t want to see him dead and didn’t want others to see it either.
Cafferkey said he and Farah held the man while Young went to get help. Help arrived soon after, as locals and police comforted the man.
“We all started holding him,” the young boy said.
For their bravery and heroics, the students have since been nominated for the Royal Humane Society Award, The Sun reported.
This is the second time this year someone has attempted suicide over that same highway. That man was also saved by two schoolboys.
