By Alva Solomon

QUICK action by passing motorists on Tuesday saved the life of a woman who leapt off the Demerara Habour Bridge (DHB) in an apparent suicide attempt.The incident occurred during the busy midday traffic, and DHBC General Manager Rawlston Adams told this newspaper that the woman had been dropped off by a taxi at the Peter’s Hall end of the bridge, from whence she proceeded to walk towards the pedestrian walkway on the structure.

He said that, at about 12:38 hrs, the woman was observed along the first span of the DHB, and later she clambered over the rails and jumped into the water; but two passing motorists who saw the incident unfolding sprang into action and pulled the woman out of the water, which was said to be low at the time.
The woman, of East Indian descent, was handed over to the police outpost at the bridge, the ranks of whom later took her to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment. Her identity is not yet known.

Vendors at the bridge told this newspaper that the woman had hurriedly walked towards the pedestrian walkway soon after she had exited the taxi.
A plantain chip vendor related that he was plying his trade in the hot midday sun when he was informed about the incident. He said that when the dazed woman was hauled from the murky waters, she had appeared speechless.

Mr Adams said the bridge has a public walkway, and persons are free to walk across the structure at their own free will.

In recent years, several persons, mainly women, have taken their lives by fatally plunging off the structure, the most notable case of which began on Valentine’s Night in 2011 when Nalini DeAgrella leapt into the waters of the Demerara River.

The most recent case occurred in January 2015 and was preceded by another, one month prior.