Jumpers

Nathaniel's Story

Name: Nathaniel James Morales

Age: 21

Height: 6' 2" 

Status: Survived Suicide Attempt

Story:  Hey, I'm Nathaniel, but my friends usually call me Nate. Uh, I'm here because I survived a suicide attempt. I'm one of the handful of people who have survived jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. Of all the years of my life, I had never thought that I would be sitting in this chair, speaking to you about something like this. I-I guess we should start.

I was a pretty normal young kid I guess you could say. I played ball with my dad a lot and I would help Mom in the kitchen after dinner. I mean, until everything turned to shit that is. I was only four when my parents got divorced, so I didn't understand too much about at the time. All I knew was my dad had left with my sister and they weren't coming back.

My mother was struck so hard by the whole thing that she could only find relief in the form of alcohol or drugs. She'd go to work and come home at about four, paying my babysitter when she walked through the front door. The moment my sitter had left, she would pull out a bottle of hard liquor and down all of it within the hour. 

She got mad a lot when she was drunk. She would hit me sometimes to the point where I had to race to my room and lock myself in when she got tipsy. I soon got to the age where I could start to fight back or I was smart enough to throw out her liquor before she got home.

She started sleeping with other guys and would bring them home when I was around 13. Thought the bitch might do it sooner, but I guess that was the time. Each dude she brought to her room always reeked of pot or cigarettes. The guys would beat me up too, but I was too weak to stop them from doing it.

Then one day...

O-one day, uh...

(Nate begins to choke up and tears start to spill over his eyelids in small streams)

C-can we take a break real quick if t-that's alright with you?

(Being sympathetic and completely understanding, you nod your head and show him out into the hall.)