Man convinces potential jumper to stay on bridge

COEUR d'ALENE — A young man in military fatigues stepped to a rail of the Spokane River Bridge on Wednesday, drivers from the buzzing 4 p.m. traffic zipping by without a second thought.

Sonny Owen, eastbound on U.S. 95, almost did the same.

Owen's son, however, noticed the man was gripping a long extension cord, one end tied in the form of a noose and the other secured to the bridge.

That was enough to prompt Owen, a Coeur d'Alene resident, to immediately pull over, throw on his hazard lights and begin speaking to the depressed veteran.

"He was having a hard time," Owen said of the man, who wasn't from the area. "He'd found out he had a kid he didn't know he had, his girlfriend stole his car and he was in a lot of debt. He just couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Nearly 20 military veterans commit suicide every day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Owen didn't want to see this man become another statistic.

The suicidal man was scrambling to hang himself quickly, Owen said, so no one in a passing car would have time to try to stop him.

When Owen approached him, though, he listened. Owen also assured the man that things will get better.

"I asked him if he wanted to go and grab a meal and talk," Owen said.

The man didn't jump.

Owen took him to a nearby hotel, where Idaho State Police and EMTs met them. The man was then taken to Kootenai Health.

Justin Klitch, one of the responding ISP troopers, lauded Owen.

"I imagine a lot of cars passed and didn't do anything," Klitch said. "Sonny showed him some compassion, related to him on some things. He listened. Some people just want someone who will listen to them."

Neither Owen nor Klitch knew what branch of service the man had served but both are cognizant of how difficult a veteran's transition can be.

"After somebody gets out of the service, it's hard to adjust," Klitch said.

Klitch said he’ll put Owen's name in for ISP's Certificate of Appreciation for Heroism.

Owen was just happy to pay it forward.

"When I was a young kid, I had some emotional issues, and someone helped me," Owen said. "Sometimes you just need a friend and someone to listen to you, and that's what I did."