Man Who Spends Weekends Patrolling a Bridge for People in Despair Has Saved Over 500 Lives

Every weekend, wearing a red volunteer’s uniform with “cherish life every day” written on it, he travels back and forth across a bridge for one purpose. To save lives.

For more than 20 years, a man named Chen Si has spent nine hours a day, every Saturday and Sunday, patrolling the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in China. It’s a big, majestic bridge, and one of the country’s most notorious suicide hotspots.

In 2000, Chen saw a desperate-looking girl wandering on the bridge.

Worried she might be in trouble, he approached her and began chatting to try and lift her spirits. He bought her water, food and a ticket home because she had no money.

It was the first time Chen had considered someone would commit suicide by jumping off the bridge. “I realized that these people could be saved,” he said.

Through his experiences, Chen said he has learned to ascertain whether someone is feeling down by their posture, noting, “People with an extreme internal struggle don’t have relaxed body movements, their bodies look heavy. I want to tell these people that as long as you have breath, you have hope to start your life over,” he said.

Once, he saved a woman who was intending to jump because her husband cheated on her. Chen told her, “If the sky falls, I’ll be your big brother and hold it up for you.”

Another time, he dissuaded a girl who had been admitted to university but could not afford tuition from jumping, and later raised more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) with friends to help her.

“Over the years, I’ve realized that simply pulling someone back from the brink on the bridge doesn’t completely lift them out of their predicament,” he said.

Chen Si: 20 Years Patrolling Nanjing Bridge, 400 Lives Saved
by u/VastCoconut2609 in pics

Chen is a courier and earns 300 euros a month. Half of his salary are marked for family expenses, but since 2003, he has spent the other half of his wages on his mission to save lives on the bridge.

Chen has used his savings to rent rooms for people he has persuaded not to jump, and personally covered all other expenses. He has installed metal signs with his phone number listed, opening himself up for phone calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. His phone bills say that he has received over 55,000 calls.

He was too afraid to approach people at first, and instead held up a big sign with a giant heart, trying to convince people that there was love on Earth still for them. But the sign was too big and heavy to run with. And he has needed to run frequently.

Chen is much more courageous now and approaches people in visible emotional distress, talking with them, listening to their stories, and convincing them to step back from the edge. He offers hope when they feel there is none.

Some walk away immediately. Others hesitate, trembling with fear and grief. But Chen stays patient, calm, and unshakable. He has pulled people back from the edge and assisted in rescuing those who have already jumped into the river.

He doesn’t wear a uniform. He doesn’t get paid. He simply shows up — again and again.

According to reports, Chen has saved more than 500 people from jumping, one conversation, one connection, one person at a time. He’s known as the “Angel of Nanjing”.

One man. One bridge. Hundreds of lives changed.

On that bridge, he proves a simple truth: sometimes all it takes to change the world for a single person is someone willing to stop and care.

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