San Francisco Student Survives Stunt Jump From Golden Gate Bridge
- Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:02am by
Meredith Jessup
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP/The Blaze) — A California high school student visiting the Golden Gate Bridge on a Thursday morning field trip climbed over a railing, jumped — possibly on a dare by fellow classmates — and somehow survived the 220-foot plunge into San Francisco Bay that kills dozens of people each year.
Most jumpers die a grisly death, with massive internal injuries, broken bones and skull fractures. Some die from internal bleeding, while others drown.
But the 17-year-old lived, suffering just a broken tailbone and torn lung. He was rescued by a surfer who paddled over and took him ashore, California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Rardin said.
“It’s a miracle in itself,” Rardin said. “The majority of folks do not survive this type of fall.”
Windsor Unified School District Superintendent Bill McDermott said he didn’t think the teen was trying to commit suicide, but instead jumped after other students from Windsor High School in Sonoma County urged him on. Students saw the teen go over the railing.
An ambulance rushed the teen to a San Francisco hospital. Officials couldn’t provide further details Thursday night on his condition.
“He did it to try to look cool,” one classmate said. “He said he’d jumped off bridges before.” Another student who said he was on the scene tweeted that students tried to stop the boy before he leaped.
Someone leaps off the iconic bridge an average of once every two weeks — last year, 32 jumpers died. About 98 percent of those plunges end up being fatal and authorities rule most of those deaths suicides.
The Marin County Coroner’s Office and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District have said that up to 1,500 people have died after jumping off the bridge since it opened in 1937.
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Comments (63)
United_Ignited
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:04amThis is the reason Van Jones targets the youth.
Report Post »deadbeatjoe
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:51amIn this case, Darwinism did’nt work. Maybe he’ll try standing in front of a street car, hopefully before reproducing.
Report Post »Average_JoeMN
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:45amNatured missed. Clearly this should have been nature weeding out the stupid.
Report Post »USAFRetired
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:33amLook up in the sky, is it bird? Is it a plane? No, It’s your future Governor of the great state of California!
Report Post »USAFRetired
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:36amNext attempt will be at Half Dome, let’s all wish him well!
Report Post »piper60
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:28amThis kid has issues. Not a lot of brinnies, however. I pray for his parents.
Report Post »ted c
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:19ammy dad always asked me, “if your friends were jumping off bridges, would you do it?” apparently, that wisdom escaped this young fella.
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:46am“So tell me, kid, if your buddies tell you to jump off a bridge, are you gonna do it?” Apparently so.
Report Post »Paratrooper
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:38amIt‘s too bad he wasn’t neutered in the fall also. I don’t think we want this genius contributing to the human gene pool in the future.
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:46amI think he slipped into the gene pool when the life guard wasn’t looking.
Report Post »prmermen
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:06amthe kids a rush junky get off his back.. not all of us live in a safty bubble..thank god the wright brothers didn t..good jump kid but keep in mind most exstreemist do their home work first , doing it at field trip indicates u didnt
Report Post »canuck44
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:44amFailure of Dr. Darwin to remove another Congenital Democrat from the gene pool.
Report Post »Big Kahoona
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:07amWe all talk to our kids about peer pressure (I hope) but wow, this one takes the cake! Sad part is, this kid probably didn’t realize that all these “so-called’ friends of his are all gone after graduation….then what? Being cool may not be so important anymore. At least not enough to risk your life.
Report Post »firesteel
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:24amNice left point break there.
Report Post »dcwu
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 4:08amDave’s not here.
Report Post »mrmikejohnson
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:18amThere’s going to be a line to jump from that bridge in a few years when California officially goes bankrupt.
Report Post »ItTakesFaith
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:59amYou guys’ have it all wrong! This is merely an instance of an inquisitive physics student, (re-)testing Newton’s Laws on gravity…!
Report Post »_______
“So, if one of your classmate’s was to jump off of the Golden Gate Bridge, would you follow him?”
texanpatriot
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:27amJust think, he is still in the gene pool… can’t imagine what the next generation might be like.
Report Post »Insipid
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:33pmEvidently, there were no lifeguards watching his gene pool.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:12amWas this kid saved because God has a plan for him? Will his miraculous survival cause him to turn his life around? Or is he just another moron that happened to luck out that day because God doesn’t make everyone get what they deserve all the time? Maybe he won’t learn the right lesson. Maybe he will think he is invulnerable and kill himself playing chicken with a train.
There really is nothing to be learned here. If you didn‘t know jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge was suicidally stupid then this won’t help you.
Move along. there will be a car chase on CNN or Fox within the hour if you need entertainment.
Report Post »NicoleTheGreat06
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:43amtoo bad theres no video of it!!
Report Post »Fairfield County Tea Party
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:20amWinning!!!
Report Post »Paratrooper
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:45amMust Have been tiger blood and Adonis DNA that saved him.
Report Post »RLTW
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:14amAnd this is the mentality of the youth today; what’s cool is worth your life. What a f—king worthless POS
try again
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:09amtell ya what, our first thought was that was a desperate-to-have-friends kid.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:08amIf your friends told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:17amNo, but then I don’t live in California………..
Report Post »miles from nowhere
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:07amYou want comments on something this stupid, forget it.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:05amI believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky….what do you mean it’s just a song…oh crap.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:08amif you try again…take Nancy with you!!!
Report Post »Zorba53
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 11:28am@Banjarmon: I believe that the bridge is in her district!!!
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:05amPlease try again .
A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:09amAlmost had the first post. :)
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:10amI’m glad the guy survived.
This kid now knows exactly who are NOT his friends.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:14amHope the “student” learns something from this — how darn lucky they were ..and does something useful with the rest of their life … it is truly a gift when you survive something like this.
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:20amHe left his corpse in San Fransisco .. OK maybe next time
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:26amA Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Report Post »I’m glad the guy survived.
This kid now knows exactly who are NOT his friends.
————-
This is the Jackass- the- movie generation.
I‘m surprised he didn’t have a helmet-cam on to post the video on youtube
Showtime
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:52amI taught water safety for the Red Cross for 17 years, and I’m stunned. Just stunned.
Well, I think he suffered a broken tailbone. Nothing like busting your arse to be stupid!
Report Post »HK94dude
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:50amDarwin 0
Report Post »Idiot 1
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:16amAmazing indeed, they say lady luck favors the bold and the foolish; and in this case the kid survived the fall, and his own lack of understanding of why never to do this.
I will not complain though, been there myself, not on a bridge, just with a four hundred pound feral boar having a bad attitude that day.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:20amfuture democrat voter…no brains…
Report Post »ollie42
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:07amLet’s see, a 17 year old CALIFORNIA high school student jumps off a 200 ft. high bridge because he was dared by friends. Is he really that stupid or is this just a glimpse into the future of California educated people? Sounds like a pilot for a new stupidity, oops, reality show to me. THERE IS NO PILL FOR STUPID!!!!
Report Post »JoeBtfsplk
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 10:31amSurfer comes to the rescue.
Report Post »marine249
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:49pmdumb is as dumb do
Report Post »JohnAdamsIsMyHero
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:57pmLol
Report Post »calamari12
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 3:42pmThis boy is stupid. He had no concern for the consequences of his actions and his LUCKY to be alive.
Report Post »ManThong
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:22pmLet’s see… 17 years old, no clue about what happens when 150+ pounds at 32 ft/sec/sec meets water surface tension after 200′.
Well, that’s your government education tax dollar at work.
And to think he almost hit one of those sensible Californians surfing into the rocks on a cold dreary day.
Report Post »ManThong
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:25pmMy bad. It’s not the surface tension after a fall like that (although that’s the first condition encountered) that is the hazard. Rather, it’s the deceleration of several hundred g’s generally encountered as you transition from the light drag force of air to the high drag force of water at speed. Human organs generally don’t care if the hundreds of g’s come from water or concrete to become inoperable. Small miracles are required to make that transition successfully. It should, by all rights kill you and that’s the lesson to be learned.
Report Post »