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skywaybridge.comments2019-2021 • updated: 07.17.21 |
contact/comment commenteering through the years: latest comments are at the top. (our responses to comments follow.) comments do not appear immediately, please be patient. if we post your comment, it will be found on the page most appropriate to your subject matter or on this page. 07.17.21, Sarah, Michigan, I appreciate your efforts, managing this website. I am further north but learned of the Skyway around 2005. When looking up the bridge after I came back home, I found your site. I still go back to the general area every year, just to look at the bridge - and can't help but think of some of what I've read here. As someone who has felt low I appreciate the other things I have read or found through your site, about how this suidicde is not glamorous. How bones are crushed. Crabs eat Cheeks. Etc. I enjoyed the recorded 'episode' of the man that survived. Sorry I can't remember the name or year.. Thanks for doing this all these years. Its good the suicide barrier is up. All best to you. -s (thank you for your kind words. we do get people that are in low mental places, that somehow manage to find a positive up, by reading the website. i am glad it helped you. the man that survived is hanns jones. it was 20 years ago on 05.30.21. thanks again and i wish you continued wellness.) 07.17.21, Massie L., Los Angelos, regarding: nothing. I am sad my pup died ad noone is with me :( (sorry for your loss.) 07.16.21, Bill A., facebook, Wasn't this page originally the "skyway jumper pool" ? acting like we forgot where you came from lol 07.17.21, Skyway Bridge, yes, it was, but then it changed. now it's different. sometimes, things evolve from what they were into something different, much like you did from your past. (fyi, jumperpool.com is for sale.) 07.14.21, Christine, Gulfport, fl., I'm not writing about a jumper I'm writing about the lack of jumpers. I'm wondering what you were going to do now that the fencing is up? You have been maintaining this site for so long. I can't imagine there's been another jumper since the fence? (as stated a couple comments below, we plan on letting this website sit and update any items of interest as they happen. we have been running this since 1998 and it's good to finally be done with it. the jump activity that may have occurred since the onset of the barrier project, seemed to involve the gaps in the barrier during construction or below the elevation where the barrier begins/ends.) 07.10.21, Kisa M., facebook, people who jump off the skyway and aren't attempting suicide should be thrown off for stopping traffic. 06.29.21, Nikki L., Hello, I know the barrier is just about done, just wondering if you keeping your site up or not? Thankyou (we're pretty sure that if the barrier functions as expected, there will be nothing much new to add to the website. we plan on letting it sit fallow and update items of interest as they happen. the website was started to address the jumper situation and we expect it to fade out with the lack of jumpers. it's a good thing.) 06.13.21, Adam B., UK, I've stumbled across this website and been dumbstruck by the entire premise (hear me out, I promise it's positive) I've discovered this from a YouTube channel (I shan't be naming names, they'd have to pay me for that one). Something struck me as rather out of place, presenting what seemed to simply be a transparent log of unfortunate occurrences at a suicide hot-spot as somehow wrong. Then my mind got working, in what I assume is a very primitive way as to your own viewpoints. I find it pleasing that there's a transparent, honest and even rather blunt website for suicide and prevention. I think one reason suicides occur is because of the obliviousness of most to what it entails. It's often imagined as just alive, gone, however it is vitally important that we (and I can see you plainly agree with something along these lines, if I'm not wrong) inform people that death isn't easy, and forcing death on yourself, especially when doing it through force and while conscious, will never be a pleasant experience. Hearing the gruesome details I think is a serious way to prevent potential suicide attempts, as well as ensuring that society is fully accepting that people sadly feel this way, and that ignoring it is the worst possible thing to be done. I also saw your comments on the nutcase who killed his ex, and completely agree with your point that if one feels their life is under threat from an ex, get a gun, train, practise and get the fuck ready. No piece of paper, week-long imprisonment or slap on the wrist can prevent that. I also found the fact that this bridge has been a hot-spot for so long and yet nothing has been done to prevent it sickening. The obvious option (which it seems frankly is finally happening) should have been, decades ago, to physically prevent the possibility of people jumping. Finally, I believe in rehabilitation and legalisation. We must not shame people for their problems, we must offer our hand, offer our support and remind them that they're not alone, that life comes before one's morals or politics and that there are the appropriate steps to avoid addiction and suicide. I am not comfortable that the UK, US, much of Europe, are up to this standard or even close, and due to this and the lack of ability by the vast majority involved to transparently look on death and look on suicide in order to stop ignorance and obliviousness, I'm happy to have discovered this website and to have discovered that some share at least a semblance of my own thoughts. I also hope, once the barrier is finished, that some form of memorial to the hundreds who took their lives (and the few whose lives were forcibly taken) should be erected in some form. I also find it vital that there is somewhere reporting on the loss of lives, as every life is human and every human has connections one way or another. Everyone matters, and that's why suicide hurts so much. Thank you, this website has truly opened my eyes. Seriously, thank you. (sorry for the vent, it's just how I feel) later: 06.13.21, Adam B., UK, Oh hello again. Welcome back to more general rambling. I like rambling. I'm British, who can blame me? Anywho, I'd also like to raise the idea of politics and religion in this (groan), because there are many, many, many stupid people in this world and sadly some of them have sneaked their way here. Religion and suicide. What an odd topic. Anyone bringing up magic cloud wizard waving his hands around making planets on a weekly basis for a living, as an attempt to validate usually uninformed arguments on suicide, is rather ridiculous. It's comparable to be going "yeah, well, I've got a sheep." So what? In my opinion, delusion is a disease, and it starts at childhood. Across the world, the idea of magic cloud wizard (supposedly different but Abrahamic religions are just parody cults of one another) is forced down people's throats from an inappropriate age (baptisms at birth? Oh, come on, that's indefensible even by religious standards). There's also the notion of the fact that magic cloud wizard is supposed to be all-everything-good man, the people who apparently carry out his will often aren't. Aaaaand that means one of two things. Either they're a great bunch of lying scumbags, or he's not very existing. Probably both? Considering how religious nutjobs in the middle of the 2nd millennium treated science (even in the 1800s and 1900s), it's remarkable we don't look on them as cults. Tl;dr- replace God with "crazy magic cloud wizard", and Nessus with "dead guy", and their statements suddenly make a lot less sense. Politics. Firstly, the vast majority of parties are shit. I don't care what colour they are or what type of elitism they carry out, they're shit. Biden, Trump, Boris, Putin, Merkel, Macron, the lot of them. Shit. Anyone blindly following their viewpoints in order to once again is a moron. Suicide is a human issue, and governments are famously terrible at that. One side wants greater government involvement - great, but as if they're gonna do that - and the other wants... well god alone knows what they want, they're a little loony. Is say a larger problem contributing to suicide is pressure. Families are less able to help than they were for many, many reasons, and then economic pressures compound them. The main issue though (yep, I waffled a lot, bear with me) is that suicide must be treated as human, not statistical. There isn't one set reason, there isn't a set of reasons and there isn't a set way. It's going to happen even if you ban it (famously banning things you don't like works, like the war on drugs or marijuana), and if one's going to try and bring "noo Jesus" or "noo liberalism" into this, then they're a moron. I'd again like to commend you on your no shit approach, and for your transparent look on a very sensitive but vitally important subject. I guess it's just good to find people I can, in many senses, agree with in such a peculiar and misleading, misled world. And to shit on dumb people. hello adam, i read your every word and thank you for your submissions. seems that very few grasp the nature of the website, much less delve deep enough to see suicide as we see it. many do view the website as something positive and i appreciate that and hope it has helped people. hopefully, the barrier will solve the suicide nature of the bridge. sadly, suicide will go on as something far too few will ever understand. be well. 05.20.21, Douglas D., facebook, For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction! Wind is already an issue on the skyway, I’m guessing the sway effect will occur at much lower wind speeds causing more danger for drivers. Did engineers analyze the impact of the net (more importantly the length of the net and the resistance impact?) Skyway Bridge i suppose we will see. Douglas D., I suppose, although I was simply asking if the analysis had been done. It was a yes or no request Skyway Bridge, i run a website and my bridge wind resistance analyzing skills are minimal. pretty sure whatever analyzing that should have been done, was done. if you need to have a factual "yes or no" reply, bother the FDOT. good luck. 05.19.21, Stacey A., St Petersburg, regarding: End of A Jumper, Live in ST Pete and work in Sarasota. I have been driving the skyway for 8 years. Seen a lot. Google and found this page. Looking for answers who jumped and why. It's always a shock and happens at any time. I am very happy watching the brave men working hard building the fence. Looks like they are almost done. (it's a relief to finally see an end to skyway jumping and regular website updates.) 04.05.21, Christine l., Gulfport, fl., I do not know if there was a jumper. But I saw a white SUV type vehicle and a small red sports car just now about 5 minutes ago. I pulled over Northbound of them and walked back to ask if everything was okay. There was a sitting in the back of the SUV using his cell phone. I asked him if everything was okay and he told me to wait a minute while he finished whatever he was doing on his phone and then he told me that he was waiting for AAA to arrive because his wife broke down up there and he came to help her and he brought her down to the rest area and came back up to wait for AAA. I hope that's the truth. 11.24.20, Tammy B., fbplugin, 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. 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.) 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.) 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. • Donna J., fbplugin, I worked there for years,monitoring those cameras,phones etc. No training,no written policy on suicides . That job still haunts me to this day. 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...) 01.30.19, 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.) |