10 Suicide stories

The Suicide That Reunited A Family

When Hanns Jones stepped off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in mid-2001, he had every reason for wanting to throw in the crappy hand life had dealt him. Recently kicked out by his girlfriend, his career was going nowhere and a decades-long search for his father had resulted in precisely nothing. But on his way down, Jones had a realization. If he checked out now, his own son would suffer precisely the same Dad-shaped hole in his life as he had. So instead of giving up when he hit the water, he swam to safety. This was despite suffering a collapsed lung, broken neck, shattered ribs, and burst spleen—all so he might see his kid again.

But that isn't even the amazing bit. That came two weeks later, when Lynn-Marie Carty read about Jones's suicide attempt online. Specifically, she read the bit about his missing father. And it just so happened that Lynn-Marie Carty was freaking amazing at finding missing people.

of reading Jones's story, she had tracked down his absent father and put the two in contact. After literally decades of searching, Jones had finally found his missing dad—all because someone cared enough about a stranger's misery to sacrifice a week of her life helping him.