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skywaybridge.comments2019-2021 • updated: 11.24.20 |
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11.24.20, Tammy B., facebook plugin, I have been following your site for sometime because I have a fascination with the bridge and even one time during a severe depression was going to drive 6 hours to get there and jump. Now I am moving to st pete, do not worry no longer depressed. I was just checking in about the barrier as it was suppose to be built this year. What happened. 11.24.20, Skyway Bridge, good to hear that you're on a better mental path. 2020 has been a test for all of us. as for the barrier, apparently covid caused a delay in construction. you can keep up with it here. continue to be well and good luck with your move. 09.20.20, Dennis C., from a facebook response comment, I thought about jumping off that bridge myself which is how I found the Skyway Bridge site. And I read stories from people like you whose family and friends jumped off that bridge and I read the pain that they were in. I also read from the people who were out for a nice day of fishing and had bodies land right in front of them. I made the choice to not jump after reading those stories because I wouldn’t put my family or strangers through that. So yes, I’m sure that it is painful to see but it also helps other people decide NOT to jump. 06.20.20, Gregory D., facebook, Half the lights are out on the Bridge lately!  (you expect those lights to fully work within the first year for only $15,600,000?~ pessimists see the lights as half off, the optimist see them as half on. democrats see the lights as being a racist monument to white supremacy.) 05.29.20, David M., While sober & eye-opening, I think your website performs an important public service. I believe a great deal of people in this country could benefit from reading it. (thank you.) 03.30.20, Michael M., facebook, can you guy's please turn the lights underneath the bridge john deere green for Joe diffie he's a country music legend.... they are green and yellow please please please!!! (you would have to contact the f.d.o.t. about your request, as our only power is running this facebook page and the lowly website. give them a holler here: fdot.gov/contactus) 02.21.20, Sam, Pinellas, All you people who follow this site, advocate for the nets and feel sorry for a people. Suicide is a personal choice, I have considered in the past. It was no one’s fault. I didn’t want to die, I just didn’t see any other way to get rid of the pain. No one should feel guilty. It is a personal choice. The person making the choice is in so much pain at the time they are not in their right mind and can see no other way out. I struggled with my decision the time and knew that God would not judge me if I went through with my act, not jumping from a bridge. Don’t judge the person, pray they know God and are going to meet Him. The one thing I was sure of as I held the gun to my head was that I was not in my right mind and God would not send me to hell for that one sin. (people who follow this site do advocate for the nets and do feel sorry for a people that feel the need to end their own lives. it's called compassion and without it, society would devolve into chaos. suicide is a personal choice and that's exactly what we have been advocating since the onset of this website. it's your own personal right to self-eliminate whenever you wish, just do so privately. make a plan, tie up loose ends to the best of your ability, do not directly affect others in the process, and try not make a mess. it's the very public nature and all those involved, that make the skyway suicide a lesser option and that is what we wish to end. if you can not cope with life for whatever reason and there is no viable help solution, feel free to exercise your right to clock out for the last time. be mindful of others, it's not just about you. as you said, it is a personal choice, just keep it that way. we hope you are able to cope and can live a relatively normal life. be well.) 11.09.19, Ginny S., facebook, Love, love the new lights!! Thank you for brightening up my trip to and from TPA. (we had nothing to do with blowing $15,000,000 on the disco lights. enjoy your trip and be safe.) 10.08.19, Rob D., facebook, What made you want to start this site? I'm curious because I've been reading as many of the reports as I can. It's amazing. It evokes a symphony of emotions on me. I feel like I understand exactly why people choose this bridge, though I am not entirely sure I could put it in words. I empathize with all the viewpoints. The anger, the sadness, the shock... Thank you again for communicating with me, and for the documentation of this issue. (we try to respond to all questions and thank you for your kind words. you can read more about how all this got started.) 08.26.19, Pam F., facebook, I just came across this poem, wow. Maybe it'll help someone... The Morning After I Killed Myself - A Poem By Meggie Royer The morning after I killed myself, I woke up. I made myself breakfast in bed. I added salt and pepper to my eggs and used my toast for a cheese and bacon sandwich. I squeezed a grapefruit into a juice glass. I scraped the ashes from the frying pan and rinsed the butter off the counter. I washed the dishes and folded the towels. The morning after I killed myself, I fell in love. Not with the boy down the street or the middle school principal. Not with the everyday jogger or the grocer who always left the avocados out of the bag. I fell in love with my mother and the way she sat on the floor of my room holding each rock from my collection in her palms until they grew dark with sweat. I fell in love with my father down at the river as he placed my note into a bottle and sent it into the current. With my brother who once believed in unicorns but who now sat in his desk at school trying desperately to believe I still existed. The morning after I killed myself, I walked the dog. I watched the way her tail twitched when a bird flew by or how her pace quickened at the sight of a cat. I saw the empty space in her eyes when she reached a stick and turned around to greet me so we could play catch but saw nothing but sky in my place. I stood by as strangers stroked her muzzle and she wilted beneath their touch like she did once for mine. The morning after I killed myself, I went back to the neighbors’ yard where I left my footprints in concrete as a two year old and examined how they were already fading. I picked a few daylilies and pulled a few weeds and watched the elderly woman through her window as she read the paper with the news of my death. I saw her husband spit tobacco into the kitchen sink and bring her her daily medication. The morning after I killed myself, I watched the sun come up. Each orange tree opened like a hand and the kid down the street pointed out a single red cloud to his mother. The morning after I killed myself, I went back to that body in the morgue and tried to talk some sense into her. I told her about the avocados and the stepping stones, the river and her parents. I told her about the sunsets and the dog and the beach. The morning after I killed myself, I tried to unkill myself, but couldn’t finish what I started. 08.11.19,Telena C., facebook, I hate bridges and I hate that one. My husband talked me into go over one day and I actually covered my head just to go over, it was fine. I made it safe to the other side. On the way back, we got stuck at the incline due to a lady who wanted to jump. Needless to say I had a anxiety attack and about lost my noodles to where I just wanted to push her just to make it end! Then after they took her away and we got to the other side I broke down and cried because there was someone in so much pain and all I thought about at the time was myself. I was heart broken. I refuse to go on that bridge. We will always drive the extra hour around. 08.10.19, Stacy M., facebook, if they truly want to commit suicide they will, whether its a bridge, pills, gun, hanging, etc. they will find a way. Its not the bridge. 09.17.19, Candace B., Stacy M., it’s “died by suicide.” Not “commit” suicide. It’s a disease. You don’t commit cancer or commit a stroke. We need to change this language. Might help others talk about it.?? 09.17.19, Skyway Bridge, Candace, of course you can commit suicide. it's an act you willfully do, in order to end your life. you don't choose cancer or choose a stroke, but you sure can choose suicide, regardless why you do so. changing the language won't change the fact. there's too much "change the language" nonsense going on, in order to solve problems. it's a weak attempt that solves nothing. 09.17.19, Candace B., Skyway Bridge, you don’t commit depression. You die because of it. The language is used to change the stigma. I would hope you would be on board with that. 09.17.19, Skyway Bridge, depression does not equal suicide, however, it can lead to it. people with cancer commit suicide. they are depressed about it, sure, but the cancer drives them to commit suicide. you seem to want to cast net all suicide to depression. that would be wrong. it will be hard to convince me that changing language equals actual and real problem solving. not all suicide is a mental illness. 09.17.19, Candace B., Skyway Bridge, Language Matters: Committed Suicide vs. Completed Suicide vs. Died by Suicide. Read it 09.17.19, Skyway Bridge, took me 10 seconds to see it's someone's opinion on word salad semantics. you can bend and shape well defined words to mean whatever you want them to mean, but that does not change what they actually mean. people commit suicide. period. it is something they do, when self ending their lives, regardless why or how they do it. the fact you don't like the word, does not invalidate the word. com·mit; /kəˈmit/, 1. carry out or perpetrate (a mistake, crime, or immoral act). "he committed suicide, by carrying out his life's self end." 08.08.19, Hal S., facebook, Just wondering...with the last 4 jumpers there has been no information on Name, Age, Social Media pics, etc. One of the best things about this site is its willingness to humanize the jumper where the reader can relate to their struggles and put a face to the victim of suicide: they're not just a statistic. Is this a conscience decision on your part now, or just lack of information, or prompted by outside forces? Thx! (we agree, putting a name and face to those that choose the skyway demise, drives home the fact these are actual people that jump, not faceless nameless nobodies, unworthy of mention. while their actions are indeed newsworthy, we can only post information we receive. keep in mind, there are zero official identification reports given to us and the media can't be bothered. all our reports come from witnesses, friends, family, and a handful of anonymous insiders. sometimes it's right away, sometimes not at all.) 06.27.19, Mandy B., facebook, Damn. Ok so I'm on your website and I've been binge reading. I have a history of depression and a suicide attempt in 06. I still get into a dark place but honestly for me reading about the jumpers and reading about how badly it affects others who see it or who pull them from the water... It gives me chills and honestly reminds me that people who don't know me what so ever will hurt from my death, not just my family. I once thought about stepping into traffic. I went looking for the best places and came across an article about how badly suicides like that affect the truck drivers. It broke me and I cried and thanked the author of the article. We talk now and then. I see grieving family attack you guys for writing but I want to say thanks for writing the hard parts of the after. For addressing those who have to see people die on their way to work. For writing about the fishermen who pull these bodies from the water and how badly it affected an entire family Inna boat. The teens in the boat have to go to counseling now. For me anyway it reminds me that taking my life will affect everyone who knows me and will leave them a lot of pain. Publicly killing myself will make people who don't know me question who I was and why I did it. I see it hurting people who don't even know the people they saw jump. It's an eye opener and in those really low moments of crisis I come to read webpages like this. Maybe it's weird or morbid but it makes me feel like these people who thought they meant nothing to anyone did mean something and their deaths affect people they don't even know. So keep up the good (and hard) work. I thank you 06.27.19, skyway bridge, you are welcome. nothing pleases us more than for someone to find enough on this website, to rethink their suicide plan or at least, give life another try. life is hard for many people and wading through it is fraught with obstacles, be they bad habits, failed relationships, or horrid family dysfunction. thank you for your kind words and do keep up the fight. be well. 06.27.19, Mandy B., You as well!! I can't imagine how hard it can be to have to keep up with so much info and death and them people think you've got no compassion. You absolutely do you've just become numb from so much of it. 06.27.19, skyway bridge, that is true. i wish jumpers could be stopped and we could stop doing all this. 06.27.19, Blair, Trout Creek, Canada, regarding: Jump - June 24, In the last few jumps, there has been someone hit the rocks (ugh), and two jumpers narrowly miss fishing / pleasure boats under the bridge. I believe the suicide jumps will only be taken seriously when an innocent person gets crushed on a boat below, or a jumper goes through a boat, sinks it, and a family drowns. Only then will action be taken, swiftly. How sad. (while that would surely get something done, we hope it never happens.) 06.06.19, Crystal, West Allis, I found you guys through mydeathspace and been reading half of the jump pages so far. I think it's really sad that many of those people felt that jumping was the only solution. My father committed suicide 15 years ago and I don't wish the pain on anyone. I hope people see that there are better solutions and get help. (thank you for your kind words for those suffering. i hope you can cope with your loss. be well.) 06.05.19, Joleen F., facebook, Skyway Bridge I thank you because thanks to your site and dedication a family member of mine decided to seek help when he had a plan in place for the next day to jump. He couldn’t bear to traumatize innocent people below. We knew he was sad but had know idea. To Daniel F., I’m so very sorry for your loss but going after the site is not the answer. I am thankful for the pictures because for my family member it made it so much more real than reading a statistic. Your brother may save a life going forward. (thank you. we have had several people say roughly the same thing. perhaps if daniel's brother had perused the web site, he too would have altered his end game. the habit of keeping quiet about suicide has not worked at stopping them. life is getting worse for more people and suicide will affect more and more, well into the future.) 05.27.19, mydeathspace.com/skyway bridge, Have you checked out the deaths on our site of people who jump from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge near Tampa, FL? Our friends at Skyway Bridge have great first-hand info from people who witness the jumps. Jasmine Fraser (26) jumped to her death from the bridge on May 5, 2019. She almost landed on top of a boat that had a whole family in it - " My family and my friends were the boat that was almost hit by this jumper. She not only took her life but traumatized the 7 of us including our 3 children. None of us slept last night because this unknown stranger decided to end her life. It saddens me that she was at her all time low but the people she leaves behind are left to deal with the pain. This is an image I won’t soon forget, nor will my husband and his friend who pulled her lifeless body from the water but tried CPR just in case. I can tell you, this is no way to die. I hope the family is able to find closure." 05.16.19, krpnc, Thanks for your site. I lost my husband to a particularly spectacular suicide and somehow your site brings me comfort, I'm not alone. And these fucktards throwing themselves off a bridge with boats down below! So much selfishness... 05.16.19, Sherry B., facebook, Very sad😭 for all these people going tho such darkness/depression & tking their lifes...Smthing needs to be done!! Our daughter drove over the bridge last wk when the girl she found out went to her school @ Braden High school & jus yesterday she seen a man that jumped police were already there But was to late...They missed him like by 5 mins😪😥💔 05.06.19, Julie T., facebook, if it were not for your page, no one would even know how many people jump every year. I am grateful for your willingness to maintain the list and share information. It is because of your page and website that people are even talking about 'solutions'. Even if we cannot stop suicide, awareness is important. (thank you...) 01.31.19, lauren b., i tried to jump off the bridge but the watchers stopped me. i did it at midnight with a knife in hand in case somehow i survived and could end in the water, but they stopped me. i dont need help. im perfectly fine i just want to see if the watchers will take me in beyond the grave, i just want to see... i will soon enough. and so will you. (we find your story compelling and want to know more. who/what are these "watchers" you speak of? how did they stop you? why would they stop you? is there any way to learn more about them, without succumbing to death?) 01.30.19, Ray P., St. Petersburg, regarding: weather conditions. I miss the environmental stuff for the areas around the bridge. I'm a security guard assigned to the rest areas and I found it useful in my reports. The stuff on the bridge is great because I can check throughout the night on weather conditions that might force a closure or limited shutdown which makes for busy nights at the rest area. Unfortunately, the jumper stuff is useful as well, as it is not uncommon for them to stop at the rest areas just before they go to the bridge. Born out of tragedy, it is a useful tool. (we moved all the 'right now' environmental stuff to it's own page, but a few of the helpful websites have been discontinued, beyond our control. thanks for the kind words.) 01.01.19, Ben k., Hudson, FL., I have thought about jumping many times this year and I still might this year but all I know is it will be the most important thing I will or won't do this year I pray for those who have jumped and hope I won't join them (we hope you won't join them either. there are many sources of help and we do hope you try them. you left no way to contact you directly and used an obvious fake name, so we have no idea whether you will see this or not. seriously, work hard to get past these thoughts.) |