A man took a 135-foot jump off the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge Tuesday morning, but somehow miraculously survived the dive and was saved.
The unidentified 32-year-old man jumped at about the same time a New York Police Department (NYPD) Harbor Unit was in the vicinity of the bridge. Officers Rosario Roccasalvo and Eugene Bebenista were on patrol offshore when Roccasalvo saw something fall from the bridge.
“I couldn’t believe it. First I was like, is that a person?” Roccasalvo told the New York Post. “It freaked me out. I saw him feet first hit the water. It’s a scary feeling.”
The Harbor Unit rushed to where the man was and pulled him out of the water using a rescue line. The man was said to be reluctant at first, but eventually grabbed the line.
Bebenista said, “You get goosebumps seeing someone coming off the bridge like that. You just want to get there as quickly as possible and render assistance.”
While it's not clear whether the man was attempting suicide or not, the Post called him “emotionally disturbed.”
Officials said that the man was taken to a nearby hospital and is in serious but stable condition.