Recent incidents fuel growing calls for suicide prevention measures on Mission Bridge
HS Kenny Braich, whose family owns a large parcel of land directly beneath the Mission Bridge, is joining a chorus of voices calling on the province to add suicide prevention measures to the span.
'Unfortunately, when emergency calls are made that someone is on the bridge or has jumped, immediately my phone rings or my family's phone rings, because this is the epicenter,' Braich told CTV News, as he described how he has helped emergency crews locate and retrieve bodies from the shoreline over the years.
Conservative Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper would also like to see the province do something to prevent people in distress from using the bridge for suicide attempts.
'We need netting, we need signage, we need phones. We need something to keep our people safe,' she said. 'This is not OK for our government to just ignore this issue.'
According to Mission RCMP, a teen jumped from the bridge on June 13, and landed in the water below.
They were saved by Mission Search and Rescue and transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to Gasper, just one day later a concerned bystander managed to talk another youth away from the ledge.
'When I hear of young people that are at the end of their rope – they don't feel they want to live – that is an issue we need to talk about and we need to have solutions now," Gasper said.
In addition to preventative measures such as barriers and suicide hotline phones on the bridge, Gasper is calling additional funding for mental health services in Mission to get people help before they find themselves standing high above the river.
Braich would also like to see more supports before someone else uses the bridge for attempted suicide.
It's happening at least once or twice a year that I know of," he said.
CTV News reached out to the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Health but the province did not immediately respond to questions about the issue, or any possible plans to address it.
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