My dad was one of the first to jump from the Humber Bridge, why are people still dying in 2021?

[Jojogu]

A Hull man whose dad was among the first people to jump to his death from the Humber Bridge is asking: why are people still dying there in 2021?

Bryan Seddon was just six years old when his dad Kenneth took to the bridge in 1985 as a final resort after being diagnosed with an illness.

He says nothing much has changed in terms of mental health provision and safety at the site in the 36 years since.

Kenneth was just 30 when he made the decision to take his own life and Bryan, now 41, said it left an irreparable hole in his own life.

Bryan has called for more to be done to physically stop people being able to jump from the bridge itself but also emphasised that most work needs to be done tackling the root causes of the mental health crisis.

Bryan said: "This happened back in 1985. I was only six when my dad jumped, my brother was seven and my sister was four.

"My dad had an illness that was killing him slowly from a tattoo he got and as his time was running out in this life, he didn't want to put my mum and us kids through seeing him in pain all the time.

"He didn't what any of us to end up finding him dead. He got his wish as no one could see his body when he was found about a week later.

"I can't remember much for that time but what I do remember is good things like him sitting in front off the fire every morning so it be nice and warm for when we got up.

"I also remember one day him making egg sandwiches for us and he put a rubber fried egg in my sister's sandwich.

"He was a loving dad and would also have time for us kids, playing jokes on us all the time, I think this helped him cope with the pain he was in."

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The impact on Bryan's life was profound, without his dad to guide him and despite the best efforts of his mum he fell into criminality and self-harm.

Bryan said that even now in his 40s he still feels the ripple effects of his dad's passing and the impact that has had on his own mental health.

Bryan said: "My mum did her best to put us kids first no matter what when my dad passed. I think the impact it had on me is the way I turned out in my older years.

"As from the age of 17 I was in and out of prison, I also suffer with my mental health and in 1998 I hung myself in prison as everything was getting too much for me. I was lucky that I was found in time.

"I don't know if it is because of his passing, why I turned out the way I did, but I do know that he would have done everything he could do to have stopped me."

Earlier this year, six people died at the bridge in one month of this year alone, prompting Hull Live to shine a light on tragedy and call on authorities to take action.

In total, £250,000 is spent every year on suicide prevention measures but it is still thought that over 200 people have died at the bridge since it opened in 1981.

Following months of delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was confirmed in June that testing will once again resume before a decision is taken on additional physical prevention measures.

In the meantime, a wellbeing hub manned by charities has been set up near the access to the footpath from the Hessle end of the bridge and staff are continuing their patrols and night time closure of the footpath to try and prevent incidents.

Despite this, Bryan said he felt that not enough had changed since 1985 to prevent tragedies at the bridge.

He said: "Since then, nothing much has changed for people that think they have only one way out.

My dad was one of first to jump, why are people dying in 2021?

Bryan Seddon was just six when his dad jumped to his death from the Humber Bridge back in 1985

www.hulldailymail.co.uk

 

[Ironweed]

Earlier this year, six people died at the bridge in one month of this year alone, prompting Hull Live to shine a light on tragedy and call on authorities to take action.

If people in the UK didn't know where to jump before, they do now. Survival rate must be close to zero, since no survivors are mentioned.

That's Golden Gate Bridge levels of lethality. I think there have been two, maybe three survivors from the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

[Anonymous_A]

People who jump probably don't look into it as much as you think they do. Probably just find somewhere relatively high and jump from it in desperation or whatnot.

 

[Ironweed]

People who jump probably don't look into it as much as you think they do. Probably just find somewhere relatively high and jump from it in desperation or whatnot.

Could be. But I remember reading somewhere that a lot of people who jump from the Golden Gate Bridge literally had to drive across the equal in most dimensions Bay Bridge (including pedestrian access) to get there. The former apparently has a cachet the latter does not, at least when it comes to this sort of thing.

 

[Quiet Desperation]

If people in the UK didn't know where to jump before, they do now. Survival rate must be close to zero, since no survivors are mentioned.

That's Golden Gate Bridge levels of lethality. I think there have been two, maybe three survivors from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Apparently the count is 34, at least according to Wikipedia, for an estimated survival rate of 2%. Higher than I thought too.

 

[Alwaysbadtime]

People jump because they want to. Not all that jump have a mental illness. Even this bit in the post doesn't make sense. It said his son wants to raise awareness for mental health instead of just build barriers...He then says his dad suffered from a terrible tattoo infection or something and doesn't mention anything mental.

Suicide prevention monies are spent on paying for 'professionals' and people to write broshures. A 'well-being' hub isn't going to pay someone's bills, become their boss and never fire them or give them good healthcare and retirement or keep them company at night.

It really sucks his dad jumped but he had shit go bad with his tattoo. It doesn't sound life-threatening...but wtf happened he did it because he wanted to. Okay kids: don't get tattoos.

 

[Jumping_realms]

People jump because they want to. Not all that jump have a mental illness. Even this bit in the post doesn't make sense. It said his son wants to raise awareness for mental health instead of just build barriers...He then says his dad suffered from a terrible tattoo infection or something and doesn't mention anything mental.

Suicide prevention monies are spent on paying for 'professionals' and people to write broshures. A 'well-being' hub isn't going to pay someone's bills, become their boss and never fire them or give them good healthcare and retirement or keep them company at night.

It really sucks his dad jumped but he had shit go bad with his tattoo. It doesn't sound life-threatening...but wtf happened he did it because he wanted to. Okay kids: don't get tattoos.

I don't remember it mentioning more than an "illness" for him.

Who knows why his "illness" was withheld, but you never know...he could have contracted HIV from a tattoo needle. In that time of the 80's, AIDS was terrifying. It just sounded to me as it being something terminal that would slowly progress by the way he spoke about his kids seeing him die slowly.

Can't say what it was for sure, of course, but he was doomed to die relatively soon somehow from how the article read.