Middle-school volleyball players prevent suicidal California woman from jumping off bridge

Members of a middle-school boys volleyball team prevented a 47-year-old Fresno woman from jumping to her death from a bridge on Thursday.

The boys, who are in grades 6, 7 and 8 at Keppler Neighborhood School were jogging when they saw a woman on the Tuolumne Street Bridge about to jump to the railroad tracks nearly 100 feet below, according to 6ABC.

“She was like, one hand, and feet hanging already,” Brandy Ezell, one of the boys, said.

The boys started shouting, “Call 911,” their coach Elliot Murray said.

While he called 911, he gave the boys instructions.

“I immediately told the kids, ‘Do everything you can. Chant, say ‘Stop, your life is worth it,, and they just kept on chanting,” said Murray.

“We went up we were there for like 10 minutes, trying to distract her,” student Elijah Gomez said.

The boys’ encouragement worked and the woman climbed back onto the bridge before police arrived on the scene.

“We contacted her, found out she was actually trying to commit suicide and the officer placed her on a mental health evaluation hold for 72 hours to be evaluated by mental health workers,” Lt. Mark Hudson of the Fresno Police Department said.

“She took a glance and hearing those kids, it registered to her, ‘I can’t do this in front of them,’” said Murray.