SECOND TEEN IN A MONTH SURVIVES GG BRIDGE PLUNGE

We posted here about the Windsor High School student on a March, 2011 field trip to the Golden Gate Bridge who boasted to fellow classmates of his bridge jumping prowess, then when questioned made the leap few survive—pulled out of the water by an ageing surfer with nothing more severe that a stern lecture.

Now Reuters brings us a second teen, this time a 16 year old girl who made the leap and survived today—in April of 2011--barely one month later!

Reported the news service:

“The teen was found "conscious and responsive" beneath the suspension bridge at about 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Levi Read.”. "Normally when we're talking about a jumper from the Golden Gate Bridge, the numbers show it's not a high probability that they're going to survive," Read said.

That is an understatement; over 98% of all bridge jumpers die on impact—the distance mid-span from roadway to water is 270 feet, figure 10 feet per floor, or the equivalent of a jump from the 27th floor of a building.

At this height water begins to resemble concrete more than water.

Contrast the world record professional high dives:

The world record for the highest dive into water is held by, depending on who you ask, Dana Kunze (172 feet and walked away) or Oliver Favre (177 feet but broke his back.) Not taking air resistance into account, their velocity on impact would have been 72 or 73 miles per hour.

And now this update to the story:

An Alamo family out for a weekend sail found the teen jumper in the water and pulled her to safety. reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Their first thought was that they had spotted a whale breaching the water. However, they then saw the usually happy, waving pedestrian crowd on the bridge pointing to the water. What they found was a 16-year-old girl, an unconscious, bloodied bridge jumper who they helped keep afloat until professional rescuers arrived.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Patrick Roth said the girl, whose name is not being released, is from Southern California and was with family on vacation when she handed her sister a diary that contained a suicide note. Details weren't available on the circumstances immediately before, but then she jumped.


Roth said the girl did not break any bones, but she did suffer a punctured lung, bruised back and internal bleeding. She is expected to survive -- one of a very small percentage of people to survive the 220-foot drop.

Last year, 32 people committed suicide by jumping off the bridge, according to the Associated Press. Jumpers who are not killed on impact often drown after suffering severe internal injuries and broken bones. Only about 2 percent survive, statistics show.

We have heard it takes a perfectly controlled feet first dive, but at just steep enough of an angle that you don’t go too deep and drown.

Our bottom line: Don’t.