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WATCH: Hero cop rescues man who jumped off bridge in Alicante
The police officer jumped into the fast-moving river below and dragged the Alicante man to safety
Footage of a police officer turned hero has gone viral after a courageous cop in Alicante jumped into a fast-moving river to rescue a man who had thrown himself off a bridge in a suspected suicide attempt.
The drama unfolded just after midday on Sunday June 25, with Alicante Local Police receiving several reports of a semi-naked man in an agitated state threatening to end his own life by throwing himself over the bridge railings.
When a police patrol arrived at the scene, the troubled man followed through with his threat in front of horrified onlookers, and appears to remain underwater for several seconds.
Gran trabajo de la policía local de #Alicante! pic.twitter.com/yuyQmCleuG
— SantiMartinez🇪🇸 (@SantiMartinez84) June 26, 2023
The clip shared on social media shows one of the officers immediately remove his waistcoat and police duty belt with regulation weapon before jumping into the water and pulling the jumper to the river bank.
Municipal sources have since stated that the fall itself "was not life-threatening", and although the man remained underwater for a short period, this was of "his own will" and not as a result of the impact or a "blow" to his body.
The officer has been hailed a hero for his rapid intervention, and its believed the jumper was unhurt.
Last April, an off-duty National Police officer in Benidorm prevented the attempted suicide of a child. The policeman had just finished a shift and was on his way home when he spotted a 12-year-old Ukrainian girl lying on the pavement next to a busy road.
In a statement at the time, the force said that "after gaining her confidence", the child "revealed she intended to self-harm by throwing herself into the moving cars, which she would have done had it not been for the officer's opportune action".
In 2021, the last year with verified statistics, the Valencia Region recorded more than 400 suicides, down on 2020 (438) and 2019 (450).
The regional figure for 2021 is just over 10% of the national total.
Image: Twitter/@SantiMartinez84
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