Suicide by bridge is gruesome, and death is almost
certain. People have survived the fall, but not many. You might survive if
you hit the water feet first and come in at a slight angle.
The
impact is tremendous. The body goes from roughly 75 to 80 mph to nearly
zero in a nanosecond. The physics of inertia being what they are, internal
organs tend to keep going. The force of impact causes them to tear loose.
Autopsy reports typically indicate that the jumpers have lacerated aortas,
livers, spleens and hearts. Ribs are often broken, and the impact shoves
them into the heart or lungs. Jumpers have broken sternums, clavicles,
pelvises and necks. Skull fractures are common.
Which means you
die one of two ways, or a combination of both. One, you hit the water and
the impact kills you. Sometimes the jumper is knocked unconscious. Other
times, the jumper survives for a time. The person can be seen flailing
about in the water, trying to stay afloat, only to succumb to the
extensive internal bleeding. Death can take seconds or minutes. Two, you
drown. You hit the water going fast, and your body plunges in deep.
Conscious or otherwise, you breathe in saltwater and asphyxiate. You can
usually tell which bridge jumpers drowned. Frothy mucus bubbles from the
nose.
"Some people seem to think that jumping off the bridge is a
light, airy way to end your life, like going to join the angels," said
Marin County Coroner Ken Holmes, talking in the reception area of the
coroner's office in San Rafael. "I'd like to dispel that myth. When you
jump off the bridge, you hit the water hard. It's not a pretty death."
"Multiple blunt-force trauma." In other words, you die the same way as
someone hit by a car. |
