Her strength was less than a minute from giving out.
The Akron woman was about to fall more than 100 feet — to an almost certain death.
''Please, don't do this. Please, don't do this,'' Sgt. Drew Kelly, one of the Akron police officers who stood on the All-America Bridge deck, pleaded as the 27-year-old woman clung to the railing.
Finally, she reached out her right hand.
Kelly grasped it and held on.
He and two other officers worked together to hoist the woman back over the railing — not an easy feat, given how far down she was. They laid her on the safety of the bridge surface.
The incident, in mid-April, ended happily for both the woman and the officers. It illustrates, however, how officers can be placed in peril when they respond to a possible jumper from the bridge, which is better known as the Y-Bridge and has earned the nickname ''Suicide Bridge.''
A dash-cam video of the incident shows how Sgt. Mark Farrar, who arrived on the bridge just as the other officers were trying to lift the woman, jumped up on the parapet wall to try to help. This move is risky: There was nothing on the other side of the wall to catch him if he had fallen.
Officers are eager for fencing — part of an ongoing refurbishing project — to be added to the bridge. They hope it will keep people from trying to jump and mean fewer officers are put at risk.
''It's about time!'' said Lt. Rick Edwards, the department's spokesman.
''Thank God, we have never lost an officer in that situation,'' Kelly said.
Edwards and the officers involved in the April 19 incident recently sat down with the Beacon Journal to discuss what happened, including detailing their actions on the dash-cam video. (The video is available at Ohio.com.)
The woman the officers saved, who isn't being named to protect her identity, did not respond to a request for an interview.
The save
Officers Brent Bauknecht and Janusz Jaskolka, who happened to be taking their dinner break nearby, were the first to respond to the call of a possible jumper on the Y-Bridge, about 9:15 p.m. As they drove on the bridge, they spotted a woman sitting on the parapet wall, with her arms over the railing that tops the wall and her legs hanging over the side.
Bauknecht approached slowly, trying to talk to the woman. He asked her name and why she was out there.
She didn't respond.
Kelly, who has training in how to respond to calls involving people who are mentally unstable, arrived at the scene and took over trying to talk to the woman. By then, she had shifted her position. She now was dangling from the rail by her arms.
Kelly slowly approached, asking if he could come closer.
''Some don't want you too close,'' he said in recounting the incident. ''They will tell you to stay back. You have to respect that.''
Kelly asked whether there was a friend or family member he could call. The woman shook her head no.
He looked over the wall, expecting to see scaffolding because of the bridge project, but realized there was nothing to catch her if she fell.
That was when the woman reached out her hand.
Bauknecht and Jaskolka flanked Kelly, with all three men wedged together, trying to lift the woman. Jaskolka braced his knees under the railing, trying to ensure he didn't go over with her.
Farrar, who had just arrived on the bridge, saw the woman reach out her hand and ran to help. He jumped on the parapet wall, hoping to grab a piece of her clothing to help pull her up. He realized, though, that she was too far down.
Kelly, Bauknecht and Jaskolka worked together to lift her up. Kelly saw fear and then a huge sense of relief on her face.
''The kids are in Chicago. It was the perfect time to do this,'' she told Kelly after the officers laid her on the bridge surface.
She said she was going through a divorce.
''It was heartbreaking,'' Kelly said.
The aftermath
The officers helped the woman to a waiting ambulance, which took her to the psychiatric unit at Summa St. Thomas Hospital, near the north end of the bridge. They assured her she wouldn't be arrested and that they wanted to get her the help she needed.
''I hope you don't think I'm crazy,'' she told them.
With the crisis past, she worried about her co-workers finding out. She had no record or dealings with the police.
''She was someone who had a whole bunch of things go wrong,'' Bauknecht said. ''Luckily, we were there to intervene. I'm hoping, with the right help, we won't have to have contact with her again.''
Afterward, when local media ran the dash-cam video, some questioned whether the officers should have put themselves at such risk.
The officers said they were acting on instinct and didn't realize the danger until later.
''When I looked at the video, I realized it wasn't the smartest thing to do,'' Farrar said. ''I didn't realize how unsafe the situation was. At the moment, all I wanted to do was help this woman.''
Edwards, who said the incident might be used as an example in the department's training, thinks the number of officers on the scene at the same time made it possible to save the woman.
''In a different situation, they would not have been able to get her back up,'' he said. ''There were enough of them to lift her up. If there had been one to two officers, she would have fallen.''
Farrar, who never ended up touching the woman, said the other three officers ''saved her life.''
Edwards said, to his knowledge, officers have never lost someone over the bridge once they've made contact and had the chance to talk to them.
''This could have been our first,'' he said. ''It was the closest we had.''
He estimated the woman had about 45 seconds left before she lost the strength in her arms and fell.
Some have been pushing for a fence on the bridge for many years, but others think is a waste of money. The installation has been delayed by a deficiency with the coating for the fence, which is designed to prevent people from jumping.
''A fence will take the opportunity for this lady out of the equation,'' Edwards said.
''I think it's a good idea. It's unfortunate we can't get to people prior to that point,'' Kelly said.
Farrar was involved in another recent call about a possible jumper on the Y-Bridge. A man stood on the parapet wall, holding onto one of the five fence panels that were installed in November to provide an idea of how the fence will look.
Farrar recalled thinking, ''Good Lord, get this fence going!''
Officers were able to talk the man out of jumping.
''We're anxious now that the project is going,'' Farrar said. ''We're anxious to stop responding to calls. It's kind of a pain — all the time.''
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
